


This is Us

by Deenew27



Category: The Gifted (TV 2017)
Genre: Clarice needs to not hold back, F/M, Sentinel serives needs to chill, Serperation-Reunited, Thunderblink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-02-16 23:55:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 46,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13064832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deenew27/pseuds/Deenew27
Summary: Clarice and John were together before the Mutant Underground, and he was never with Sonia. They get separated, John promises to find Clarice. The plan is to start over, but will old flames stop that from happening? I don't own the Gifted nor their Characters. AU, but still follows the show. Warning graphic content and mild language.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 I got you

_Flashback four years earlier..._

_Clarice was waiting at the spot John had asked her to meet him at. A lake that was hidden by the trees the moon reflecting off it made her smile. She was excited they had been going out for eight months now, regardless of always having to run from the cops or sentinel services they always had each other. She sees him walking down the slope her jade eyes brighten at the sight of him. Dressed in all black like always she got up and jumped into his strong arms._

_He laughs then sets her on her feet leaning down to kiss her. She runs her hair through his short hair that is slowly growing back since his time as a Marine is done. He pulls back with a smile tucking a piece of her short purple hair behind her ear. He takes her small hand in his as he leads her over to the spot with a blanket some food that's been made. She gasps._

_"Is it too much?" John asks with a frown Clarice shakes her head giving him a peck on lips. "It's perfect." He smiles and they take a seat on the blanket and eat under the moonlight. It was everything they needed and more they hardly had any alone time with all the work they have to do. Clarice lays her head in his lap and looks at the stars. For a while they sit in comfortable silence then John looks down at her his expression serious. Clarice sits up looking back at him with worry in her eyes._

_"What's wrong?" She asks. John scratches the back of his neck nervously and then pulls out a small box. Taking a deep breathe he says. "I got this for you." He hands her the box which she opens to find a silver plain ring. Silent tears fall from her face. "I wanted to make tonight special." He says taking the ring out of the box and placing it on her wedding finger. He cups her face in his hand._

_"I wanted to make a promise to one day have you as Mrs. Proudstar. I promise that no matter what I will always protect you and if we are ever separated that I will always find you. I love you Clarice Fong." He leans in and kisses her with such passion that takes her breath away she pulls back leaning her forehead against his with a smile saying. "And I love you John Proudstar." He smiles and kisses her once more pulling her onto his lap as they continued. They stayed locked in embrace for a while before they both pull away gathering everything and heading back to their hideout._ **(A/N: this is before John is in charge of the mutant underground.)**

_Once inside their small abandoned apartment John lefts her up in his arms taking them to bed. He places her gently on the bed kissing down her neck. She closes her eyes her hands traveling down his waist lifting his shirt over his head. He removes hers lying back with her on top of him kissing her deeply while his large hands stoked her back. Clarice can't take anymore as she gets up and pulls off her bra and takes off her pants leaving her in just her underwear. John sits up kissing her collarbone then down to her breast she moans as he takes her nipple in his mouth._

_He pulls away removing the rest of their clothing, Clarice lays back as John climbs on top of her. She pulls him down kissing him with so much love. John pulls back to look her in the eyes for any sign of fear. She cups his face in her hands. "I trust you, John." He smiles kissing her lovingly then grabs a condom from the nightstand sliding it on. "Tell me to stop if I hurt you." Clarice nods. John positions himself and enters her slowly then pulls out before thrusting back in. She winces at the pain then gives him a nod and he starts moving. Clarice's eyes roll in the back of her head as she places her palms on his chest._

_His thrust are slow at first then she asks him to go fast and he does. Only slowing down every once and a while to kiss her. He knows that she close and he's not far behind her. He thrust into her with some more force. They reach their peak together he pulls out taking off the condom and putting it in the trash. He grabs his boxers and goes the bathroom to get a washcloth and damps it. He comes back to see his love staring at him with love in her eyes he cleans her up and grabs his shirt and giving it to her. She slips it on and they go to sleep._

_The next couple of days go smoothly for them as they help get some more refugees to the safe house and they retire in their bed every night. John smiles as he watches Clarice sleep her head on his chest he pulls her closer before his senses have him alert. "Clarice, wake up." His voice deadly calm. She stirs, "What is it?" He's out of bed and putting his clothes on she scrambles to do the same. "We're surrounded 20 armed men." Her jade eyes widen, but she has no fear, only worry. Grabbing a packed bag, he hands it to her kissing her for a few moments._

_"Clarice, I need you to get out of here. I'll keep them busy giving you time to get away." She shakes her head tears starting to form. "Hey, I will find you. Just get to that safe house." He kisses her once more. She nods and opens her hands to make a portal looking into his eyes she says, "I love you." John smiles. "I love you, too. Now go!" She makes her portal bigger then she goes through it. She's five miles away and she hears faint gunshots, but she keeps going until she can't make any more portals. She not even given any time before she gets shot and her legs give out on her and everything goes black._

_Present day..._

Clarice keeps running no matter how exhausted she is there is no why she is going back to prison. She can hear the sirens closing in she opens her hands, but no portal opens. "Come on!" This time it opens with the cops nearly on top of her. She jumps through, but it=doesn't close right away and a part of the police light comes with her. She keeps running until she's at an empty police station. Opening one last portal she's inside and out of the rain. She quickly changes out of her prison clothes and for a minute she feels like she can breathe she twists the sliver ring on her ring to calm herself down.

A few miles away three other are looking for the former prisoner. John kneels on the ground one hand on the asphalt and the other on his knee. "You getting anything?" Marcos asks. "I'm working on it." John says calmly. Marcos nods. "Yeah, you seriously think she's here, man? I mean, she was just two miles away." John shakes his head listening to the faint police sirens. "She's close."

"Closer than the last time she was close?" Lorna laughs shaking her head. "She's moving strangely." John says, but something about this seems familiar. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that he just likes keeping us out in the cold." John stands and then points to the broken police lights. "Look there." He says the trio walks over and John picks up the broken piece.

"Well, that's interesting." Marcos says. John smirks, "I told you." He walks ahead a few paces more. "Hey are you alright? You want me to warm you up?" Marcos asks Lorna as he takes her in his arms.

"I'm okay. You can warm me up later though." Lorna says. "Oh, I'll hold you to that." Marcos says with a smile.

"She's there. Inside." John says as he moves over to the should be empty police station that has a few lights on. He breaks the lock with ease and motions them to go ahead. "I stay out here, just in case." Marcos and Lorna go in and it's not long before he hears things shattering. John shakes his head then he's head darts to the west and then the south. He rushes inside. "Guy, there trouble." Then he notices the mutant Marcos and Lorna were talking to. Their eyes meet brown and jade she gasps. Then John realizes that they still have a problem.

"Get dressed, you're with us now." Marcos says the purple haired mutant darts back around the corner. "What is it?" Marcos asks. "Cops. Coming this way fast. Kill the lights." John says as he switches off the nearest light to him

"How many?" Lorna asks as she kills the rest using her power. "At least ten coming from the west and south." Just as soon as he says that the sirens are right outside.

"This is the Atlanta Police Department. We know the fugitive is in the building. Come out now, or we will open fire." Lorna moves in sight and pushes the magnetic field forward knocking some offices off their feet. They open fire just as the jade eyes mutant comes around the corner she ducks and slides against the wall closets to John.

"Lorna!" Marcos says when the glass finally breaks. Lorna gets back into view as she halts the bullets pushing them back and pushes the police cars together. "John find us a way out of here." John nods moving swiftly looking for another exit. "Lorna, get out of there!" He uses his solar powered hands to flash a blinding light at the cops. "Go! GO!" He says to both girls as John reappears. He leads them out a side entrance with their car waiting just as the run in the rain toward it a gunshot goes off and Marcos is hit. He yells in pain.

"MARCOS!" Lorna yells then she slams the cop who is still holding his gun into a dumpster, repeatedly. John pulls Marcos to his feet dragging him. "Lorna!" He says as several cops surround her. "Marcos!" John looks back seeing Lorna on the ground in handcuff and pushes Marcos in the car. They drive back to their headquarters in silence. John looks to his right at the woman next to him then he notices that she's twisting the ring on her finger. He feels something that he hasn't felt in four years. He shakes his head. _Let's not jump to conclusions just yet._

When they arrive John, parks and opens his door the woman does the same. He opens Marcos's door and helps him out and they walk up the steps of the abandoned building. Before tending to Marcos, he calls Sage to talk to the woman.

"So, Clarice Fong is your real name?" Sage asks. "Yep." Clarice says. "Anyone we should contact? Family?" Clarice shakes her head. "No. My family, it's complicated. " Sage nods. "Right. Well, look, you'll stay here with us for a few days, lay low, and then we will figure out where to move you." Clarice nods. "Yeah, thank you." She stays where she is as waiting for him to return.

"Hold still, I'm almost done." John says as he wraps the silver tape around his wound. "I'm fine, John." Marcos says through gritted teeth. "We need to go after Lorna." He says once John is done. "We get a team together, we and do what? Huh? Get one of us killed? Marcos, we barely got away from a dozen cops. Now you want to take on a hundred? We can't take that risk right now." John says. "Then when? The X-Men, the Brotherhood we don't even know if they exist anymore. We are alone. And getting picked off one by one." John shakes his head. "Look around. We'd be risking all these people. Everything we built. Everything Lorna built." Marcos lets out a frustrated sigh knowing he was right.

"Guys we have a situation." Sage says. John and Marcos exchange looks then follow her out. "What is it?" John asks as the trio race down two sets of stairs. The news is on talking about two young mutants attacking Belleview High. John shakes his head and turns to Marcos. "Well, if it wasn't too hot before, it sure as hell is now. I'm sorry." He then looks at Sage. "Who is she?" He gestures towards the purple haired mutant they had just brought in. Sage looks at her them back at him. "Her name is Clarice Fong. As far as I know she has no family." John feels pain in his chest as he looks at her. He can't believe it's really her. He walks out and over to her.

"I was beginning to think that you forgot about me." Clarice says without even looking up. She stands and walks out the same way they had come in. John is right behind her. When they are out of sight he gently pushes her against the wall of the building and kisses her. She pulls away. "My boyfriend won't like this." John rolls his eyes. "You don't have one. And if you did you wouldn't still be wearing this." He lifts up her left hand and gently rubs the ring on her finger. Then he kisses her again this time she lets him. After what feels like eternity they pull away John tucks a long purple lock behind her pointy ear, but he doesn't remove his hand.

"I never stopped looking for you." He says after a while. After so long of being apart, Clarice finally let's herself cry. He holds her close as she lets is all out. "I never lost hope, I knew you would find me." John smiles and kisses her cheek. "I have you now and I don't plan on losing you again." Clarice nods. "I glad, because we have so much to talk about." John nods his expression serious, before he can speak he's hears Shatter.

"John, we have to make a supply run." John sighs and looks at Clarice, then hugs her to him. "Go back inside. I come find you once I get back." She nods and kisses his cheek. John watches her go back inside as he makes his way over to Shatter. They leave head back into town to get more supplies.


	2. Too Much

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarice and John were together before the Mutant Underground, and he was never with Sonia. They get separated, John promises to find Clarice. The plan is to start over, but will old flames stop that from happening? I don't own the Gifted nor their Characters. AU, but still follows the show. Warning graphic content and mild language.

Chapter 2 Too Much

While John is gone on a supply run Clarice wonders around the headquarters she hears a sawing sound and she follows it to find Marcos the other guy that helped save her and in the process his girlfriend was captured. She also sees a dog that is sitting on the coach.

"Is that your dog?" She asks. Marcos stops sawing the concrete for a moment looking at her then at the dog. "She's uh, everybody's, really." Clarice nods. "I just wanted to say thanks for, you know, saving me. Even though I threw a coffeepot at your head." Marcos smiles. "And a mug." Clarice smiles too. "Right and a mug." Marcos chuckles. "Don't worry about it." Clarice nods then looks around the bank. "So, this group you guys run it?" Marcos shakes his head as he continues to saw. "No. The network's nationwide. Founded after the anti-mutant laws first got bad. Just before the X-Men disappeared." She watches him then asks. "What about this place?"

"Uh, it's been abandoned since Oakwood. Figure it's the last place they'd look. I got brought into this station by, uh, John and by Lorna." Clarice nods then looks at his work. "I guess this has something to do with getting her out of jail?" Marcos nods as the concrete he was sawing falls to the floor. "Yeah. Well that was the idea. Should work great, as long as they have no guards or cameras." He looks forward. "Or smoke detectors?" Clarice chimes in. "Yeah." Marcos nods. Clarice takes a seat on the arm of the red couch. "For what it's worth, uh I know you lost her helping me, and I'm sorry." Marcos takes a seat on the other arm petting the dog. "It's all right it wasn't your fault." Clarice looks down.

"You got yourself out of prison using some kind of portal, right? You think you could get someone in?" Clarice shakes her head. "It doesn't work like that. It's bad if I try to go someplace that I can't see, someplace I haven't been." Marcos looks confused. "What do you mean by bad?" Clarice opens a small portal with her hand and then one just above Marcos's head. She grabs the squeaky-dino and tosses it through. Half of it lands in Marcos's hands he flinches. "See?" Marcos nods. "Right. That was her favorite toy." Clarice looks the dog who whines then barks. "Ooh, my bad." Marcos's phone rings he picks it up and speaks in a hushed tone. He moves away from Clarice to talk to the person.

Without having him knowing she listens in. _A meeting who is he talking to? What is so urgent that he has to keep his voice so low?_  "Hey don't tell anyone where I'm going."Marcos says then leaves the room. Clarice let's out a sigh then looks at the dog and goes to get the other half of her toy. She finds in in the room above the one she and Marcos were in. Finding it under a desk she grabs it and races to put it back together. Making sure that the tape is secure she gives it a squeak and the dogs' ears perk up. She smiles as the dog chews on her toy. She walks out of the room and she literally bumps into Shatter. He smiles and keeps going like it wasn't an issue. She climbs to sets of stairs and finds John sitting at a desk going over some plans with another member of this place. When he notices her, he finishes up whatever it was he as saying and the man he was talking to leaves taking the plans with him. The man walks away with the plans.

John smiles leaning back in his chair. "Something wrong?" He asks. "I need to talk to you. It's about Marcos." He chuckles. "Uh, listen Marcos is, uh he's an emotional guy. So, whatever he said, don't take it personal." Clarice shakes her head. "No, it's not about that. It's He got a phone call from some guy. Something about helping a family. He ran off about an hour ago. Alone." John's expression changes to serious. "What? Why didn't you tell me?" He stands and rounds the table to stand in front of her. "Because he told me not to, and he didn't want to get anyone else involved because it was dangerous. But then I was thinking about how I owe his girlfriend. And she'd be pissed if he died." John sighs. "Come on." He then turns heading for the stairs. "Where are we going? We don't even know where he is." John turns back around. "I found you like I always told you I would. Trust me, I can find him." With a roll of her jade eyes she follows him. Before they head out she grabs the black leather jacket she stole and they take a different car.

It's quiet for a while then he speaks. "Are you going to let me in?" Clarice looks out the window. "I don't know, I mean it's not like we can just go back to how things were before." With his eyes on the road he takes his right hand off the steering wheel and reaches for her left hand. "This means something is still there otherwise you would have taken it off." Clarice pulls her hand away from his. "Let's just focus on finding Marcos we can deal with this later." John sighs letting it drop for now. He places his hand back on the wheel. John tracks Marcos to a warehouse, just a few miles out of the city. "He's here, the family too." He stands. "Okay so which way do we go?" Clarice points left or right. He goes left and she follows.

"There just on the other side of these doors." He starts throwing his weight at the doors and it takes a few tries before they open. "Come on!" He ushers them all in and they take off running through the warehouse. John stops to listen he hears rattling of a robot. "They're coming! That way! To the hallway!" He points to the right and they take off in that direction. The rattling gets louder. The boy who's just a few steps ahead of John trips and falls on his face. His mom stops. John grabs his arm pulling him up and just before he can run the Sentinel robot gets its grip on his leg. "John!" Clarice says running back towards him. Marcos uses his laser hands to saw off one of the legs. John yells until it finally releases him it jumps back and sawing off the same leg Marcos had. Then it kept moving. They turn left and there's Sentinel in the ceiling "Go! Go!" The dad says and they take a right turn which leads them to a dead end.

John moves past everyone to it saying. "Watch out." Then he starts punching the wall. The Sentinel robot is upon them again, but Marcos is able to push it back with his lasers. It makes a noise and its eye is a brighter red then it was before. John listens near the door. "There on the other side!" More Sentinels approach from the distance. "Here they come!" Marcos says with a grunt as he does his best to push them back. "Clarice, you got to get us out of here." Johns says. Her jade eyes widen. "What do you mean?" John places a hand on her shoulder. "You got yourself out of prison, you can get us out of here!" The short blonde girl uses her shield to help Marcos. "No, it's different. I can't see where I'm going. It's too dangerous." Clarice says as she shakes his hand off. "All right, well, we will die if we stay here, so can you please just do it?" Marcos asks. The girl helping him grunts. "They're getting through!" Clarice starts making a portal she grunts as she expands it. "I can't do it." She says shaking her head. "Yes, you can!" She shakes her head again. "I can't!"

Clarice extends her arms out more the portal now hides her whole body. "What is that?" She hears the dad ask. Grunting she says. "Go! Hurry!" John goes through first rolling on his side. "Come on, it's safe!" John says to reassure the family. The mother and daughter go through next. Marcos pushes one last sentinel back then rushes through. "Go! Go!" The dad says as he pushes his son toward the portal. "Andy!" The mom yells. The boy Andy faces all the robots and with a yell he tears them all apart. "Come on!" The dad pushes Andy through the portal then a gunshot sounds and the dad falls back on the ground. "I can't hold it!" Clarice says weakly. The family tries to go back but by then Clarice has already clasped and Marcos catches her before she hits the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone so let me know what you think about this chapter, and leave me a Kudos if you like it! So I know it's was short, but I promise it won't always be like that. Until next time...


	3. Such Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, this is a tad bit longer that the last, enjoy!

Clarice goes in and out of consciousness a few times, she blinks and sees the form of the daughter asking her where her dad is and John trying to calm them down. Marcos shakes her shoulder to keep her awake. "You alright?" She doesn't speak. "Hey! Where's my dad?" The girl asks again. "We know as much as you do." Marcos says defending Clarice. "You have to explain this. What just happened? Where are we?" The mom asks. "This is our headquarters." Johns says.

"Where is my dad? We need to go back. Please." Andy says as he and his sister step closer to John. "Just hang on." He says holding his hands out to back them up a bit. "Hang on! Hang on? My husband is in that warehouse. We can't just leave him there." John sighs then looks over at Marcos. "He was shot. We need to go back. Please!" The sister says. "Even if we could get back, it is a very bad idea. I know you want to help your dad, but that is suicide. It's not gonna help him if we all get killed. Right now, we need to take care of Clarice." He says as he helps Marcos guide her into the main downstairs. He hears a gasp behind him, but he ignores it. "Where are you taking her?" The mother asks as the family follows.

"Please. You got to help us. Can you get us back to my dad?" Andy keeps asking as he get closer. "It hurts. I've never gone that far before." Clarice barely gets out before her legs give out. "Ugh, she's in no Okay, here." Marcos and John move her over to the bench in front of the stairs. Laying her on her back. "No, no, no, no." John turns the sister. "Give her some space." He says defensively. "You've got to wake her up. Hey! Can you wake her up, please?" Andy urges. "Look, kid! Look, your dad was gonna help me get my girlfriend out of jail. I want him here just as much as you do, but we cannot do this right now. All right?" Andy looks down finally accepting the reality of it all.

Marcos moves and John kneels beside Clarice placing a hand on her cheek. He looks up to see Sonia on the third floor looking down at him with curiosity in her eyes. "I'm Caitlin and this is Lauren and Andy." John looks at them and nods. "Can you watch Clarice for a second we need to make a call." Caitlin nods as she takes his place. John climbs the stairs with Marcos in tow.

"I know, I know, Sonia. But Clarice is in bad shape. We need to do something for her." John says when Sonia gives him a look. "I've been trying to reach a doctor in Gainesville. I can't get anybody at this hour." She says. "Just keep trying. And we need to try to find a place for the family." Sonia looks down and the trio she chuckles. "This family. Who are these people? You almost got killed, Johnny. We didn't discuss this." John nods. "No, we didn't. It's about time we talked about this freelance job of yours, Marcos. You just run off and pull this without telling anyone?" He calls him out from his spot behind the pillar. " We help mutants in danger, John. Those kids are mutants, and you sure as hell saw the danger."

Scoffing John says. "Come on, don't give me that. This was about Lorna." Marcos crosses his arms as he gets closer. "So, what if it was? We can't just leave her out there." John shakes his head. "You don't think I want her back, too? We're not gonna help her by destroying the whole organization." He's nearly cut off. "Guys. You got to come. Something's wrong." John is the first one to follow close behind Lauren. He races down the steps Marcos close behind. " She's in respiratory distress, and her temperature's spiking. I'm a nurse. She needs help." Caitlin says then she moves out of the way as John crouches down next to Clarice. Marcos kneels feeling her head.

"She portalled for miles. The energy that must take." John says as he gently places his hand on her cheek. "I can't breathe." Clarice says faintly. "She needs medical attention." Caitlin urges. "We can't get a doctor right now." Marcos says not looking at her. "Are you telling me you have this whole network and you don't have a-" Marcos cuts her off and stands to face her. "A what? A Blue Cross? Yeah, we're on the mutant plan. No, we've got some first aid and some painkillers. Can you do anything?" Caitlin stutters. "I-I took a one-week course on human variant medicine in school." Lauren comes into view. "Mom. She saved us. You can help her." Slightly confident Caitlin nods panting as she kneels down. John moves out of the way he looks up and sees Sonia looking down concerned.

Caitlin feels the pulse in Clarice's arm then moves her hands up to either side of her neck. "Her heart rate's through the roof. Without running tests, I can't-" Clarice gasps she grips the top of the bench with her hand her palm purple. "What's she doing? What's going on?" Andy asks panicked. "I'm not sure. She may be in shock. If her system's crashing, if it's unstable, it may be affecting her abilities." Caitlin says looking up at John. "What does she need?" John asks. "Hyper cortisone-D to stabilize her powers. Sodium polystyrene sulfonate for potassium. S-Something to restore her blood calcium. She needs a hospital." Looking at John with pleading eyes. "Whoa, a hospital? She's wanted. She'll go straight back to jail." Marcos says. "I don't think you understand me. She could die here." Caitlin says as she stands.

John looks down at Clarice. _No, I just got her back._ Clarice starts gasping. "What is that?" Lauren asks looking past them all. They all turn to see a portal has opened and coming straight at them is a truck. "MOVE!" John says and they scatter. John close behind Lauren and Andy as half the truck comes through and skids after them. The teens dive out of the way and John is shielding them. He endures the hit as the back of the truck hit's his spine. He pants getting up with the help of the truck. He turns to the teens looking them over. "All right. You, all right? Come on, go. Come on. Go." They all move back towards Clarice. Lauren looks at her mom and she has a small cut on her head.

John looks to everyone on the upper levels. "Is anyone hurt? All right, all right, we got to move her." He says then gathers Clarice in his arms. "Clear the table, now." Marcos says as he and another mutant move a table to the vault door after shoving the papers to the ground. John moves to lay her on top of it. Guiding her head back and holding her arm. Sonia joins them. "I thought you said she was overextending her powers. How is she doing this?" Marcos asks. Caitlin rushes over John moves out of her way. "I think I was pretty clear, I'm not an expert." Clarice starts grunting her hands purple again as she seizes another portal begins to open. In another room it starts to expand. "Look! It's happening again!" Andy says as he points. "That's the same road as before." Sonia says. Marcos and John get closer. "This is a problem. They can see us." Marcos says as he ignites his hands slowly lifting them up.

"We're not getting into a pitched battle with innocent bystanders." John says as he stops him from lighting them up. "Yeah? What about him?" Marcos asks as a man with a riffle approaches. The girl Lauren moves in front of them she uses her powers to close the portal. "Lauren what are you doing?!" Andy yells. Lauren grunts. The man has his riffle ready to fire. "Lauren, watch out!" Caitlin screams. With an exhale Lauren closes the portal before anything can happen. "Dude, what did you just do?" Andy asks. "I don't know. I just I used shields to close it. I didn't think it'd work, but I guess it did." Lauren says still not believing what she had just did. "Yeah, it worked. For now. Clarice is in bad shape, that could happen again." Marcos nods. "Yeah, again? If people start coming through, we're toast."

John looks down at Clarice then at Caitlin. "Hey. If we get you that medicine, can you help her from here?" Caitlin laughs. "You can't just buy hyper cortisone-D at Walgreens. You have to get to the hospital, get in the Pyxis machine." Marcos nods. "Well, then we'll take you." Then he turns to Lauren. "If this happens again, can you do whatever it is you just did?" Lauren nods. "Yeah, I think so." Marcos nods. "Good."

"No! I am not leaving my daughter here to close space holes!" Caitlin exclaims. "Mom, it's okay I can do this." With a small nod Caitlin and Marcos head out into the night back to town. Everyone besides John and the Strucker teenss are clearing out some space in case it happens again. John stokes Clarice's cheek and he almost misses the boys question. "So, who is she anyway?" John walks around the table so he's next to the teens. "She's a refugee, escaped from jail." Laurens head snaps up. "Jail?" John nods. "We found her." Lauren cuts him off slightly. "What did she do?" John places his palms on the table. "She used a portal to steal food from the back of a supermarket. Happens a lot with mutants who can't pass for human, they can't get jobs, one thing leads to another-" Clarice gasps her palms glowing purple.

"Hey. It's happening. Get everyone safe." John instructs. "Everyone move, let's go!" Sonia says as she a few others move out of harm's way. The portal opens yet again to the same road only this time it's during the day. "Lauren, you got this?" John asks. Lauren begins to use her shield to close the portal it's a bit of a struggle this time. "Lauren hurry." John says his voice calm. Lauren grunts. John uses his heighted hearing to listen to what the officers are saying. _Re-enforcements and the SWAT team._ Lauren manages to close the portal, but it took a bit out of here she takes a few steps back and John holds his hand out to catch her. "That was way to close." Andy says.

"I'll be back in a minute. Anything happens, you yell." John says as he leaves the teens and heads up the stairs. Sonia meets him on the second floor and they climb up the third. "I don't know. They just keep opening. She's able to close them for now, but I don't know how much longer she can keep that up. Look, the cops are gearing up. I heard them call in the SWAT team. Next time the portal opens, we may have a serious problem." Sonia shakes her head. "Johnny, if they come through-" He cuts her off. " I know, I know. We need to be ready to evacuate if necessary." Sonia lowers her voice. "No. We have to get _her_ away from here. We can't evacuate everyone." John heard the jealously in her tone and he shook his head. "Moving her is too dangerous. It just made it worse." Sonia lets out a sigh. "So, what are we gonna do?" John looks down at Clarice then back at Sonia. "We're gonna hope Marcos gets back in time with the medicine." Sonia nods.

After a while John goes back downstairs when he hears Clarice panting with Sonia in tow. He leans over Clarice placing his hand on her head. "She's burning up. This is getting worse." Clarice pants her head going from side-to-side. "It hurts. It hurts. I have to get away." She says looking at john with pleading eyes. "We need to start getting everyone out of here." John says looking at Sonia. "We are not gonna abandoning this place." She says her arms crossed. " I don't see what choice we have. All right? She's opening portals every few minutes now, and Lauren can't keep this up." Lauren looks up. "I can keep trying." Andy places a hand on his sister's shoulder." Mom, has to be back soon, right?" He asks hopeful. "Maybe. We need to consider the possibility-" Clarice gasps and her body turns slightly. "This could be it. We might have to evacuate. Clarice!" He holds her shoulders steady for a second then another portal opens. More police and the SWAT team have just arrived.

Lauren does her best to try and close this one, she grunts. "I can't hold it!" Clarice scream behind them. The portal opens itself back up and Lauren is thrown with her back hitting the wall. "Lauren!" Andy yells. Sonia rushes over to her she looks at the portal. "Look out!" A SWAT man has come through the portal his gun raised. "On the ground! On the ground now!" John grabs his hand forcing the man to shoot downward then he knees him in the stomach. The gun drops John throws the man up his back hitting the ceiling then he tosses him back out the portal. The other SWAT guys raise their weapons ready to fire. Andy rushes forward and uses his power the SWAT men go flying back against the police cars. Lauren, Sonia, and John get pushes back slightly.

Andy's power knocks Clarice and the table over she hits her head. And the portal closes. "Hey, hey. Clarice, wake up." John says then he looks up and sees several portals open and close in random places in the building. "What's going on?!" Lauren asks. "Get out!" He turns to Sonia. "Get everyone out now!" She leaves gathering two more on her way. "Get out! Go!" He tells the teens. "Lauren, come on. Come on!" Andy says as he pulls his sister to follow him. As the building begins to fall around him all he can do is shield Clarice. He soon sees Caitlin looking to see if the portal is safe. "Come on!" He urges. She jumps through the portal landing on a couch that has a few broken off boards on it. "Caitlin!" He goes over to her, but she's fine pushing him back towards Clarice. "I got the medication."

Weakly Clarice turns her head saying. "Have to go." Caitlin pulls out the medication and syringe with the needle. She puts some of the meds into the syringe."No, Clarice, you're staying here with us. I need you to listen to me, and I need you to be strong. I have to stabilize her potassium levels." As she sticks the needle in Clarice's vain pushing the other end so the meds go in her body. John looks up as sparks and a few more board fall around them. "We're running out of time." Caitlin nods. "Hold this." As she gets another syringe as John holds the medicine. "Okay, Clarice, deep breath. And be strong for me. Now!" As she jabs the needle into her arm. Clarice gasps her eyes no longer foggy. John lets out a sigh of relief he smiles down at her. "You're okay. You're gonna be okay." Caitlin says as she moves some her purple hair from her face.

Everyone comes back and they start cleaning up the wreckage. John carries Clarice over to one of the many beds for the wounded and Caitlin sets her up with an IV and puts the medication on the table just in case she soon leaves to join her kids. Clarice blinks a few times then opens her eyes. She sees John. "Hey. All this damage was it me? Is everyone okay?" She leans up a bit as John sits on a stool next to her bed he gives her leg a gentle pat. "You were a little hard on the trees and some furniture, but people survived." She sighs lying back again. "This place need a remodeling anyway." She says with a small smile. "I need to ask you something. You kept opening a portal to the same road. Do you know why?" Clarice shakes her head. "I don't I don't know. I don't remember." John nods. "I'm sorry." She looks at him confused. "What?" He shakes his head. "You should rest we can talk about it later." He stands to leave Clarice grabs his hand. "I'm sorry." He smiles. "It's all right. I'll come back later to check on you."

Clarice nods releasing his hand and he walks away. _What could I have done? Did I hurt anyone?_ Her body begs for sleep and she finally gives in for a while. _I have to tell him, I can't keep this from him anymore._ She looks to her right seeing John talking to Marcos before her jade eyes close and she goes back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So let me know what you thought about this chapter, and if there are any characters from the X-Men or Brotherhood that you would like to see appear, as long as they are in the Universe. Depending on who they may appear in a flashback or in present time, maybe both. And what do you think Clarice wants to tell John? 
> 
> Until next time....


	4. Reliving parts of the past PT 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some special guests and Clarice telling us what happened to her, enjoy!

_Clarice keeps running through the dark forest she doesn't look back, no matter how much her feet whine in protest. She makes it to the clearing and hides behind a giant boulder. She catches her breath placing her hands on her belly with her and John's baby. "We just need to make it to the landing platform and meet Storm there." She whispers rubbing her belly in encouragement she moves from the boulder and takes off running again she sees the platform a few feet away and Storm who is waiting with a big bag of supplies. Then Clarice hears a gunshot and she falls to the ground bright red sticky blood covers her stomach. She lets out a scream._

Clarice sits up panting and sweating from the nightmare that had felt all too real. She places a hand over her heart to calm down her breathing. She then notices John coming toward her. "Hey, are you alright?" He asks taking a seat next to her. Clarice nods. "Yeah, I'm fine. But I won't be sleeping anytime soon." He sits on the stool next to her bed. "Do you want to talk about it?" Clarice's mind goes back to her dream and she shakes her head. "No, but I do need to talk to you." _Just not about that not yet._ John nods he waits for her to speak. "Can we move somewhere else?" She asks. John nods. "Yeah let's go over there." They get up he and leads her to a coach and they sit on opposite ends.

"So, what is it?" John asks. Clarice lets out a sigh looking at the floor then back into his deep brown eyes. "Let's start with the night you told me to get to that safe house."

_Flashback four years ago..._

_"Clarice, I need you to get out of here. I'll keep them busy giving you time to get away." She shakes her head tears starting to form. "Hey, I will find you. Just get to that safe house." He kisses her once more. She pulls back then nods and opens her hands to make a portal looking into his eyes she says, "I love you." John smiles. "I love you, too. Now go!" She makes her portal bigger then she goes through it. She's five miles away and she hears faint gunshots, but she keeps going until she can't make any more portals. She not even given any time before she gets shot and her legs give out on her and everything goes black._

_She is then put in the back of a grey van and taken to an abandoned warehouse. They place her in a chair tying her wrist and place a collar around her neck. The men stand aside as a woman dressed in all black though she looks like a woman who would give a man a good time, before she kills them. Clarice was very uncomfortable not because she couldn't use her power, but because to the way this woman was looking at her with deep brown eyes. Her long jet-black hair blended in with her look her skin was pale and not the healthy pale either. "Boys, boys there is no need for bonds she won't be able to move for quite some time." When she spoke, chills went down Clarice's spine as the woman moved to cut the ties from her wrist. She sends her help away so they are alone. "Forgive them they are idiots. My name is Selene Gallio. And you are?" Clarice realized the women had a heavy Russian accent. "I'm Clarice Fong." Selene smiles. "So, tell me Clarice what were you trying to get away from? A terrible husband perhaps?" She gestures to the silver band on Clarice's finger._

_"My_ _fiancée_ _treats me just fine. Sentinel Services is another story._ _" Clarice says with a sneer. Selene's brown eyes widen. "Hmm, then it's a pity you won't be seeing him again." Clarice is about to fire back when a needle is jabbed into her neck and everything goes black._

_She wakes a couple hours later on a plane with Selene and her goons not that far away from her. "Where are we going?" Clarice asks. "Kenya." Selene simply says. Clarice shakes her short purple hair. "Sit back child and enjoy the ride as soon as we land it'll be time to go to work." Clarice leans her head against the plane she closes her eyes thinking about John and hoping that he will come and save her._

_Selene was not kidding the minute the plane touched down her goons were putting her in a bulletproof vest and giving her goggles. "The collar will be shut off once the doors open, but don't try to flee you're not strong enough to make back to the states." Selene says Clarice glares at her. "Now you job is simple, help get the mutants to this building and don't try to portal away we put a tracker in you so, you can't escape. NOW GO!" The doors to the plane open and she's shoved out in the middle of a battlefield mutants fighting the people. Clarice did as she was told and opens a portal the mutants all pile through before it becomes too much for her. She too jumps through and it closes behind her. Clarice catches her breath as Selene gives each mutant a look over._

_"We'll done Clarice." Selene says then she turns to one of her goons speaking in Russian as she points to Clarice. Then she grabs a young man by his arm and pulls him up and to the stairs she drags him into a room and closes the door behind her. It's quiet for a few beats then a blood curdling scream comes from the room Selene walks out her eyes are a bright red instead of their usual brown. She has a wicked smile on her face. "Listen up, everyone as long as you do what I say I won't turn you into this." She pulls the young mutant out and he's been turned into a vampire with electricity flowing around him. All the other mutants gasp or are too shocked to move._

_Her goons take her and several others to their cellars. Clarice lets the tears fall down her face she misses John she wishes she wasn't here and didn't have to do what Selene wanted. A warm hand rested on her arm. She looks to her left to see a girl with mocha skin, white hair and cerulean blue eyes. "Hey, don't act like that we will be fine." This girl looked to be her age, but she wasn't sure. "My name is Ororo Munroe, but you can call me Storm." Clarice shakes her hand. "Clarice Fong." Then she twists the ring on her left hand. "Hey, don't give up hope. That is the only way to survive don't give into the fear." Clarice nods and it must be dinnertime or something because Selene's goons come in with several trays of food. When Clarice is given hers, she sees that it's better than the others. She and Storm become fast friends._

_During the next four months Clarice is told to save mutants while Storm provides cover for those trying to escape the battle. Opening multiple portals each day was very taxing on her body and her throwing up every morning wasn't helping. Storm had pleaded with Selene, to bring in a real doctor to have a look to see what is wrong. Selene agreed, but only days later. "I want to know what it wrong the minute she comes out." Selene says pointing to the doctor then she and her goons leave. Storm never leaves Clarice's side as the doctor runs her tests. She gasps and smiles at the two mutants Clarice shakes her head and asks the doctor to not voice or think it aloud and just lie and say the she need tons of rest and proper food. The doctor feared for them both, but she agreed._

_Selene and her goons where waiting when the doors finally opened. "Well?" The doctor spoke calmly. "She is overly exhausted; the food is not cooked so I'm not surprised she's so sick and the fact that you have her opening twenty portals a day is taxing enough. If you keep working her like this than you can forget about her helping whatever this is." Storm and Clarice came into view as the doctor said that last piece before leaving. Clarice was leaning heavily on Storm for support. Selene's eyes go from brown to red. "IS she telling the truth?" She demanded. Storm held her ground. "Yes, making those portals takes a lot of physical and mental endurance and her body cannot open more than three-five portals at a time." Selene's eyes go back to brown. "Fine, now boys get them all properly cooked food I will not have my best wasting away because of your incompetence." She leaves._

_Weeks afterward Clarice is better and not having to deal so much with being overworked. She still feels the pain of her loss, but she uses that as her fuel for finding some way back to John. She helps mutants to safety and things are going well until one day._

_"Which one of you is stealing all of my weapons!?" Selene roars as she opens the door levitating down to the ground. All the mutants look terrified. "Tell me, or I will start killing people." Selene's magic takes a toll on her and you can she her aged face. No one says anything. "No one wants to talk? Well, see who cracks soon enough!" She grabs a mother away from her son and forces her to kneel. "Still nothing? Hmm, some alliance you are." Her eyes turn bright red and she devours the woman's lifeforce killing her leaving only ashes behind. The boy screams then clings to Storm who is holding him tight. Selene does not stop there she grabs a teenage girl with spiked blue hair she drains her without waiting. "Anyone want to talk now?" As she grabs a frighten little boy with red hair and blue eyes. "Wait!" Everyone looks to one of the elder mutants as he comes forward. "It was me, those men cornered me and demanded that I hand over the weapons we had or they would bomb this place."_

_Selene harshly releases the boy and he stumbles back. "It was only you?" The older man nods. "It was only me." Selene nods then grabs him by his throat taking his lifeforce till ashes remain. "Let this be a lesson to all of you I will not have you stealing even if it's just to save yourselves. Now back to your cellars!" She barks out. Most flinch and they all leave. The boy who lost his mom does not leave Storm's side and she refuses to let him go._

_They have to get out and take everyone with them, Selene will kill them all if they do something so petty as stealing weapons to save us all from a potential bombing. That gave Clarice and Storm an idea. The following day they were once again helping mutants get off the battlefields, but Clarice and Storm along with Evan Daniels or as his mom called him Spyke put their plan into motion. The enemy was getting bolder sending more men and firepower their way. Once the portal closed behind the last mutant was through they ran toward enemy lines holding their hands up. "We surrender." Clarice says Storm and Spyke do the same._

_They are taken to the one in charge of the attack and they ask him to bomb their location and then in return they will give them the one in charge of the mutant 'relief' force. The Captain agrees then they get beat up a bit just to make it look like a kidnapping. Clarice opens a portal when they are safe distance away and then collapses at Selene's feet. "Tell me what happened." Selene demands Clarice is still catching her breath so, Storm does the talking. "The enemy had captured us momentarily and took us to their Captain." Selene crosses her arms. "Really. Then why didn't you just have Clarice get you back here?" Storm shakes her head. "They knew about her and me. So, they held her hands part and had her close her palms. And with me they just used Evan, I refuse to have him be harmed." Selene rolls her eyes. "He tried to ask you where this place was?" Spyke nods, but doesn't say anything. Selene nods letting it go they get their dinner in their cells._

_Their enemies did it they bombed the place and the mutants scattered. They wake up to panic in the building, Storm, Evan, and Clarice leave heading to the plane that was heading back to the states. They don't get far before Selene is following them as a black mist. Clarice sees the cargo door closes Storm summons lighting stopping Selene in her tracks to buy Clarice some time the plane is already high up. She opens a portal and tells them to go through with one final attack that leaves Selene unconscious they jump through finding themselves in the cargo bin and they relax._

_End of flashback..._

When telling her tale, she had not noticed that John had moved closer to her or that he was now holding her in his arms. "Clarice, I'm so sorry. I had tracked you all the way to that runway, but I lost it. I kept going back every chance I got just in case, but I didn't pick your trail back up until a year ago." Clarice gets out of his hold. "Yeah well, it's not like my trail can travel overseas so, don't beat yourself up over it." She gets up and walks back over to her bed, she needed some space after telling him all that and the memories of Selene's whole corrupt operation. The mutants that may or may not have survived and the guilt she felt for just leaving them.


	5. Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas to all! This one is a bit longer than the last so enjoy!

After Clarice left, John stayed where he was thinking about everything she had just told him. He knew the minute she was taken that he had to track her down. Shaking his head, he couldn't believe that for three years she was in Kenya, he was happy to know that this Selene whoever she was didn't harm her in anyway. But Clarice had said something about a tracker, he needs to know it she got it removed. For her safety as well as the Undergrounds. He gets up going to ask her about it, but he hears Marcos calling him. _That conversation will have to wait._ He races downstairs to find Marcos, Caitlin, Sage, Sonia and Shatter waiting for him in the vault. John already has an idea of what Marcos is about to say. "Marcos don't start." Marcos says it anyways. "So, what, we just forget about Lorna 'cause she's behind bars?"

"You know that's not what I'm saying." John says. "God knows what she's going through in there." Marcos says. "You're talking about breaking into a jail. 20-foot walls. With guards. With guns." John says addressing everyone not just Marcos. "We have a way past all of it: Clarice. You saw what she can do." John shakes his head. "I saw her tearing through the fabric of space. She almost destroyed half the building. She almost died." _And after what she just told me I won't have her overworking herself._ "She's fine now."

"In your expert medical opinion." Caitlin chimes in. Marcos shrugs. "Yeah, well, she's better than she was." John shakes his head again. "Even if she is, she's nowhere near ready to take on what you're proposing." Marcos doesn't stop. "Then train her. Just like you trained most of the people in this room. You train her." John sighs. "Johnny, Clarice did get herself out of jail. I mean, maybe she can do this." Sonia says John looks at her slightly annoyed. "So, you're on his side." Sonia stands. "No, I'm on Lorna's side she's my friend." John sighs looks at the ground then at Marcos. "Alright." He says after a while.

"W-Wait. We still live in a country of laws. H-Have we tried calling a lawyer? Some members of Congress are sympathetic to mutants." Caitlin says. "You're really overestimating-" John gets cut off. "Why not try? We can assault a building, but we can't talk to a person?" Marcos sighs. "You said you wanted to fight." Caitlin nods. "I do. But there are ways to fight that don't involve battles. I have connections. I can reach out." John shakes his head. "We can't have contact with the outside world while you're staying here. Sentinel Services will be looking for you. We can't risk the exposure." Caitlin moves a bit closer. "Even if it could help?" Marcos crosses his arms. " Much better odds they turn on us. I'm sorry, Caitlin. No, it's too dangerous." Then he walks away. Caitlin looks at John with pleading eyes, but he leaves too.

He heads upstairs with a slight hope that Clarice is up so he can talk to her about training. He finds her not on the bed she was in earlier but the lounge area. He walks over and sits on the table in front of her. "Hey, I know your still recovering, but we still need your help." Clarice nods. "This Lorna chick went to jail saving my ass. I owe her. But it won't work. I can't do anything." She opens her hands a bit and tries to make a portal, but only a small one is made. "See? Nothing. And you want me to help you get into a jail? You'd be better off with a couple glow sticks and a hacksaw." John chuckles. "Something changed after I got sick. I woke up with this new beauty mark here. And my powers I don't know they're they're broken."

John leans over a bit. "Hey, abilities don't break. Most mutants first access their abilities from strong emotions. Fear, anger, pain. But those are all unreliable. The challenge is to tap into something positive." Clarice scoffs. "Positive." John nods. "Like, what, we do some hot yoga and find my spirit animal?" John shakes his head. "Um no, thanks. I'm pretty sure your spirit animal would bite me." Clarice shakes her head. "No. It'd rip your head off." John smirks. "No, it's impossible. Clarice, you know my head can't be ripped off. Hey, we're gonna work on it. See you in the morning." He pats her gently on the leg then gets up leaving her to her thoughts. He walks downstairs headed toward his room when Sonia stops him.

"Hey. How'd it go with Clarice?" She asks. "Um it's-it's gonna be a process. Her power has always been fueled by fear. She needs to find something she cares about enough to get past it." Sonia shakes her head. "Johnny, Lorna doesn't have time for us to make mistakes. Let me help." John shakes his head when he sees her pink smoke. "No." Sonia persists. "I can give Clarice memories, make her think Lorna's her best friend." John's voice lowers. "You're talking about planting stuff in people's heads. That goes bad, all right? Remember Walker? Eve? Me?" Sonia looks at the ground. "Yeah." John nods. "I forgave you and moved pasted it. But I don't want to take shortcuts on this." Sonia takes a step back. "Alright Johnny. She's all yours." Then she leaves John sighs then continues on his way to his room. Laying on his bed he thinks about his last conversation with Clarice he smiled when she rolled her eyes at his last comment. He turns on his side getting some sleep, knowing he has his work cut out for him.

The following morning, he gets up early and showers before everyone else wakes up. He gets dressed and ties his hair back. He then goes downstairs to the little dining area and sees Sage and Trader talking he waves and then gets some coffee and breakfast. After a while everyone files in including Clarice. She doesn't eat much but has two cups of coffee he decides now it the best time to train. Walking over to her table he asks. "Are you ready?" With a sigh she nods and they walk out to the entrance and get to a clear path with an old taxi on the right of them.

"Did you think about what I said last night?" Clarice nods. "Yeah, I did. But what I can do, I mean Literally, I have the power to bail out of bad situations. So being scared is just a big part of it." John shakes his head. "It's not all of it. In the marines when you want to give up, they train you to focus on what you care about most. To hold onto it like your life depended on it. Because at some point, it will." Clarice nods. "Okay so, besides me. What did you care about?" John stops walking. "Back then I had a lot to prove. About being Apache, a mutant." She nods. "But what if I don't have anything?" John takes a step closer to her. "Think about what you love now." Clarice shrugs. "I don't know, can it be a warm jelly donut?" John hides his pain through a forced smile. "Sure. For today, sure. Look that way. Maybe put the coffee down. Good. Just relax. All right?" He places a hand on her lower back. "Okay." She says.

"Breathe. Picture that thing. That thing you care about." With her eyes closed she holds her hands out. "A warm jelly donut." She looks at him and smiles. He rolls his eyes. "Picture, it and go to it." A purple spark begins to form. "Look at that." John says with a chuckle. Clarice lets out a frustrated groan the spark is gone. "See, this is exactly why I shouldn't be doing this. Last time I tried, I nearly took down your entire-" John stops her. "No, no don't focus on the fear. You focus-" he stops when he notices some footprints. The Struckers are gone. "John, what's wrong?" He turns to look at Clarice. "We have a problem. Training is over for now, but keep at it." He leaves her to go find Marcos.

"They left last night and didn't take much with them." John says. "Why the hell would Caitlin do this?" Marcos asks though he knows the answer. With a sigh, John says. "She believes she can help. That whatever connections she has can make a difference. She spent her whole life believing in the system." Marcos rolls his eyes. "How could she be so naive? No, I talked to her about this, I thought she understood." Johns pat him in the shoulder. "Ah, some people have to learn the hard way. We need to go after them." He says then starts walking to the entrance. "Aw, John, we don't have time for this. Lorna could disappear into a federal hellhole any day now." John stops and turns around. "If they get arrested before they come back here, they know where this place is. They get caught, we get caught, and we don't get Lorna back." Marcos nods and they head out. After changing the plates, they leave. It takes them some time before they pick up the Struckers trail.

Back a HQ Clarice does her best to try and make her portals bigger, but no such luck. Sonia comes and sits across from her. "I keep getting close, and then I just I lose it." She says. Sonia nods. "I know it's hard, but Lorna's counting on us." Clarice nods. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just she's my best friend. What did Johnny say?" Clarice sighs. " Some Mr. Miyagi stuff about focusing on something that's meaningful to me." Sonia nods. "Well, there's there's got to be somebody. An old boyfriend, maybe, or girlfriend?" Sonia looks at the ground. Clarice rolls her eyes knowing this Sonia chick had a thing for John. "Sorry. There's nobody. So, you can tell your boyfriend that this plan isn't gonna work." Sonia looks confused. "What makes you think he's my boyfriend?" Clarice shrugs. "Oh, I don't know, the way you look when you talk about him. The fact that you're the only one here that calls him Johnny." Sonia smiles, then it fades. "I came here as a refugee. When I decided to stay on and help, we agreed that if we were gonna work together, we shouldn't be together." Clarice nods. _That's harsh John, even for you. Though you probably only told her that because of me._ "Look, about your portals." Sonia shakes her head. "Johnny usually knows what he's talking about, so just keep at it." She gets up and leaves.

"Great, awesome pep talk!" Clarice says then sighs. _Food sounds good right about now._ She gets up and heads to the dining area to get something to snack on till later.

_Meanwhile..._

It's midmorning when John finally tracks the Struckers down. Marcos uses his lock pick to get in through the backdoor. Once inside they lock it behind them. John finds Caitlin sleeping on the couch downstairs he gently taps her shoulder. Caitlin gasps and pulls a sharp knife out from under her pillow. In a whisper he says. "Caitlin. Caitlin, listen to me. I don't have time to explain right now. You are in danger here. Where are Andy and Lauren?" Instead of answering she gets up. "What are you doing here?!" She yell/whispers. John shushes her. "You can't just break in." John tries again. "You don't understand-" She cuts him off. "Yes, I do. I understand that I am trying to help my husband." Marcos stops eying the stairs to look at her. "What, with favors and phone calls? We discussed this." Caitlin rolls her eyes. "No. I distinctly remember. There was, in fact, no discussion." She says point the blade at Marcos so he backs off. John shakes his head. "Guys, we need to go. If we can find you, others can, too." Caitlin's eyes widen. Then footsteps followed by a voice come downstairs.

"Cait? What's going on? What-" The man says looking from Marcos to John. "Relax." John simply says. "Danny. Danny, please. Everything's okay." Caitlin says putting the blade on the couch. Danny quickly picks it up. "No, it doesn't look okay to me." Caitlin holds her hands up. "No. These are the people who are trying to help us." John inclines his head hearing tires screeching out front. "What the hell? Caitlin, what You bring mutants into my home?" Marcos moves past the man to look out the window. "Mutants? Seriously, Danny? The only mutants I brought into your home are your niece and nephew."

"Save your family spat for later. Right now, we got bigger problems." Marcos interrupts. "Get the kids." John says sternly. Caitlin practically runs upstairs. She comes back moments later with her kids and one more. "Jeez. Who did you tell that you were coming?" Danny asks. "No one." Caitlin defends. "Well, obviously one of your friends here did, 'cause-" His son cuts him off. "Dad I think-" Danny shakes his head. "Scottie, not now. Please." Scott does so anyway. "I texted a pic of a trophy Andy tore apart to one friend." Everyone looks at him. "What?" Andy says clearly shocked. "Oh, Scott." Danny says rubbing his temples. "He swore he wouldn't show anyone. He swore."

Marcos looks back out the window. "They're seven deep out front. Anything around back?" John nods. "Yeah, there's four of 'em, and then more outside the kitchen door. We're surrounded. Look, I can get us through a wall, but if they start shooting while we run, there's gonna be a fight." Andy looks agitated. "Run? Why should we have to run?" Lauren with mild fear in her eyes says. "Didn't you hear them? There's an army out there." Andy shrugs. "Yeah, so what? We can take those guys." John nods. " Yeah, of course we can take them. But we do that, people are gonna die." Andy gets frustrated. "Well, maybe it's time these people learned." Caitlin looks at him with disappointment in her eyes. "Andy, you don't mean that." Andy doesn't back down. "Yes, I do. Listen to them, Mom. They hate us."

The men outside continue their chatter and threats. "I'll go. It's Chuck Sanders." Caitlin eyes widen. "Chuck? I was on swim team with him. We went to church." Danny holds his hands out to stop her. "I- I know, I know. I don't think you're quite understanding how people how they feel about all this." John nods. "You guys should move." He pushes Andy and Scott over to the left side then stands in front of them. "Come on, Caitie." She and Lauren move to the right with Marcos. Danny goes out and there's a struggle Caitlin and Lauren gasp. Andy has had enough. He uses his power and shatters the front door. "LEAVE US ALONE! Leave us alone."

The Chuck guy recovers and picks up his rifle. John sees it and lifts Andy out of the way. Marcos shoots his lasers and Chuck drops his rifle. "Leave it!" He says hands still raised. John with his back facing the men says. "Stay behind me. Get into the car. Come on. Come on." They exit the house heading to the car. "Back off. Back off." Marcos says. "Danny." Caitlin says. "GO!" Her brother yells. John opens both the front and backseat doors. Once Marcos is close enough to the car he drops his hands and dashes in the passenger seat. John already has the engine going and their off with the mutant welcome committee right behind them.


	6. Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's short, but wraps up eXodus. Enjoy!

-Gunshots- 

Everyone ducks in the car John gives it more gas. Marcos pulls out his burner calling HQ and puts it on speaker. "It's bad. We're heading your way." John says. "Hold on, Johnny. I-I thought you were getting the Struckers." Sonia says on the other line. "Yeah, we did. Things went sideways. We got the local mutant welcoming group on our heels." -Gunshots- "How many?" Sonia asks. "Eight, maybe ten. Either way, we can't afford a fight." He says. "What do you need?" She asks. "A way out of this that doesn't leave any corpses." Sonia gasps. "Get back here. I will figure something out." She hangs up. Marcos closes the burner.  

 _Back at HQ..._  

"Clarice! Clarice! I need to talk to you. Johnny Thunderbird He's in trouble. They're all in trouble." Sonia says as she rushes over to her. "What?" Clarice stands up her lunch forgotten. "Look, I There's no time to explain. I need you to make a portal. Get a car off the road." Clarice's eyes widen. "A car. Are you insane?" Sonia tries again. "You have to." Clarice shakes her head. "I told you, I can't." Sonia grabs her shoulders. "You can if you have something to care about." Then she blows her pink smoke in Clarice's face. _Why am I with John? What is going on?_ "What just happened?" Clarice asked still dazed. "Clarice, look at me. Johnny's in trouble out there, and I need you to make a portal. Can you do it?" Sonia asks again. "Yeah, of course. Where are they? Are you coming or what?" Clarice races downstairs with a new-found determination. With Sonia in tow. 

-Gunshots- 

Everybody ducks. "Lauren, can’t you shield them?" Andy asks with urgency in his voice. "I can't shield what I can’t see, okay?" Lauren says. "Just say down." Caitlin says looking back at her children. 

-More gunshots- 

"They'll be here any second. Get ready." Sonia says as they come out of the trees to the road. "Well, I I have to be able to see where I'm portalling to. If I can't-" Clarice is cut off. "There. Just get 'em there. Remember who you're doing this for. It's for Johnny." Sonia says. Clarice runs on the road she makes a portal with her hands then grunts as she starts to expand it.  

"Where the hell are our people?" Marcos asks. "You heard Dreamer. They're working on it." John says. "Not fast enough. We're getting way too close to headquarters. We're gonna have to fight." John looks at Marcos then back at the road shaking his head.  

Clarice almost has the portal big enough. When it's nearly there an image of John pops into her head. She grunts once more letting out a yell when the portal is big enough. 

John makes a hard right they are a hell of a lot closer to HQ now. -Gunshots- they all duck. "Look, look there!" Caitlin points out the front window. A huge portal is open. "Go. Go. Go, go, go, go, go." Marcos says and John punches the gas and they speed through the portal. John looks back to see Sonia come through and then Clarice the portal closes. They are safe. "Is everyone in one piece?" Marcos asks. "Yeah." Lauren says. "Are you kids okay?" Caitlin asks. "Fine." Andy says. "Get everybody inside. I'll be there in a minute." John says to Marcos as he gets out of the car.  

Clarice runs toward him with Sonia not far behind. Clarice races into his arms. "Hey. Are you, all right?" He catches her and holds her. "Yeah. I'm fine. We all are." John says slightly confused. "I can't believe it worked. I mean, a freaking SUV?" She pulls back from the hug and looks into his eyes. "I'm so glad it worked." She says with a smile and leans in John holds her at arm's length. "Go on inside and I'll see you there in a second." With some confusion in her jade eyes she says. "Yeah, okay." She releases him. "Yeah." She runs back inside giving John one last look. _It's not real_ _._ _Clarice has been closed off since she got here, till recently. There is no way she fell for me that hard, this quick._  

He turns to Sonia. "What did you do?" He asks. Sonia rolls her eyes. "You needed help. She needed something to connect to so, I gave her a memory." John closes his eyes. "Man." And Sonia looks at the ground. "Of us." He glares at her. "Do you realize what you've done? What that could lead to?" Sonia looks up at him. "Believe me Johnny I do." Then she walks away heading the same why as Clarice leaving John there. After a while he goes in and immediately goes to talk to Sage. He's stressed out and needs some space from both Clarice and Sonia. Don't get him wrong he would want nothing more than for Clarice to be his girlfriend again, but not like this. He would eventually have to talk to Sonia and have her remove the memory.  

After a couple of hours of shorting paper and bills he gets something to eat and it's not long before Caitlin comes into his office with Marcos. "What is it?" He asks. "I called, Danny he said he has some information about Reed and Lorna." At this John gets up. "What did he say?" John asks. "He wouldn't tell her over the phone he wants to meet her face to face." Marcos says. John nods. "Well, let's go then." Caitlin nods and they leave. When they arrive at the location John and Marcos stay by the car while Caitlin talks to her brother.  

"You know I never said it earlier, but you are one hell of teacher John." Marcos says and pats him on his shoulder. "I would love to take the credit, but I don’t deserve it." John says. Marcos frowns. "What happened?" Before John could speak Caitlin comes back and joins them with a new-found determination. They leave heading back to HQ. Caitlin tells both of them what her brother said which wasn't much, but it was a start. Then she leaves to go find her kids. "John." Marcos says. "Look if you want to give the credit to someone go talk to Sonia." John says a bit harshly then leaves to tell Sage what they had just found out. 


	7. eXit Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's short I know I wanted to give you all something, before I went on vacation. More to come when I get back I promise!

_Flashback two years ago (John)_

_Mutant Relocation Facility, Georgia..._

_"_ _You all right there?_ _" John asks his good friend Gus who just killed a mosquito on his neck. "_ _You know, back in the Corps, I used to think the cold was the worst part, but I got to say, these bugs might change my mind. You know what we need? We need a mutant who keeps bugs away._ _" John crosses his arms. "Or a can of bug spray." Gus chuckles, then his expression serious. "_ _You should have sent me in first. I could have knocked out the power, everything._ _" John nods turning to his anxious friend. "_ _Yeah, and then they would have known we were here immediately. Look, we stick to the plan. We'll wait for them to get to that second fence, they send us the signal, then we get in there._ _" Gus sighs. "_ _It just pisses me off, you know? They call it a mutant relocation facility, like it's just some nice place to pass the time?_ _" John can hear the frustration in his voice. "_ _Hey, we got you out of there. We're gonna get them out, too, all right?_ _" Gus nods. "Oorah." John lightly punches his shoulder. "Oorah is right." -Gunshots- "Was that?"_

_"_ _Get down! They found us! Get down!_ _" Marcos says as he dives when John and Gus move the fence so he and Sage can get through. -Gunshots- "_ _Randall's dead. Elsa, too._ _"_

_"What happened?" John asks._

_Marcos shakes his head. "_ _They have a whole system of automated guns, infrared trackers. With that kind of hardware, there's no way we're making it out of here._ _" -More gunshots- they all duck._

_"_ _Look, if I can get closer, I can shut down their system and the automated weapons. I can buy you some time._ _" Gus says._

_"Yeah, what about you?" John asks not liking this._

_"_ _Look, I'll be fine. I'll be right behind you, okay? Just go!_ _" Gus says._

_John, Sage, and Marcos all move away from the fence and towards the trees. While Gus moves to the other side of the fence and uses his mutant powers to shut off the weapon systems. He turns ready to run and join the others, but he gets shot in the back._

_"Pulse! Gus? Gus! NO!" John says as Marcos tries to get him to move. "No!" Then John moves and joins Sage and Marcos._

_End of Flashback..._

**Mutant Underground Headquarters**

"We know that Lorna is being held in a cell at the Sentinel Services Regional Headquarters. We believe that Reed Strucker is there with her. They're being moved soon to an ultra-secure facility. And we don't know much about it, except that the people who go don't come back. That's why we got to move now. And I'm not gonna sugarcoat this. We're talking about attacking the Sentinel Services." John address everyone who's sitting at the table or standing like he is.

"We lost six people the last time we went up against them directly." Sage says.

John nods. "I know that better than anyone."

"It won't be like last time." Marcos chimes in.

"You're right. Last time, we just hit a relocation center with a fence and some guard towers. This time it's a prison. Their systems have improved. Extrapolating from other attacks, we've got an 86.5% chance of failure." Sage says not convinced.

"And if we do nothing, then there's a 100% chance we never see them again." Marcos fires back.

"I know were new here, but please." Caitlin says her hand on Lauren's shoulder.

"Lorna's risked her life for everyone in this room. Harry, your parents would be dead without her. Sage, she pulled you out of a gutter, and she got you clean. I mean, she's She needs us." Marcos says.

"Doesn't change the math, Marcos." Sage simply says.

"I don't care about the math. I care about Lorna. Who's with me?" Marcos asks.

"I'm in." Sonia says. Harry raises his hand too.

"Yeah, I'm in." Clarice says from her spot next to Zingo.

"Okay." Marcos nods. And they dismiss for now John, Clarice, Marcos and Sonia move to look at the monitors Caitlin joins them after talking to her kids. "Five people? Unbelievable." Marcos shakes his head.

"Marcos, don't be so hard on 'em. A lot of 'em lost friends the last time." John tries to reason.

Marcos sighs. "Five of us to break into a prison."

"Um, six, technically." Caitlin chimes in. John, Sonia and Marcos turn around.

"I'm sorry, Caitlin. But-" Marcos is cut off.

"So how are we gonna do this? If there's a window, I can portal us in, but there's gonna be guards and cameras. Harry, could you?" Clarice asks.

" I can make the guards see this, but not the cameras." Harry says.

"Well, if we go in like that, we're never coming out again." John says.

Clarice nods. "Exactly."

"What if we don't go in? Look, I know I can't shoot lasers from my hands, but I do have an idea. Daniel said the place they're taking them is far away. To put them on a plane, they'd have to move them. Let's get them while they're moving." Caitlin says

Marcos nods. "That's not a bad idea."

John nods. "It could work, but we don't know the route. Without that-" He's cut off by Marcos.

"I think I might know how to get it." Marcos says.

"How? We don't have anyone with that kind of intel." John says knowing what he's getting at.

"The network doesn't, but I might." Marcos insists.

John shakes his head. "The cartel?"

Marcos shrugs. "They have people everywhere, man." Sonia rolls her eyes while Harry shakes his head.

"The last time the cartel got their hooks in you, you barely got out. Marcos, you sure you want to go back to that?" John asks.

Marcos shakes his head. "No, but I'm out of better ideas." John sighs, but gives him a firm nod. Marcos leaves prepare. John looks back at the monitors for a few minutes before he goes to find Sonia. She's on the second-floor getting some coffee.

"Hey." John says when he catches up to her. "Hey, would you like some?" Sonia asks. John shakes his head. "No, no, I'm fine. Um. So, did you ever talk to Clarice about what happened?" Sonia sighs. "No." "We should." John insists. "You know, she seems fine. I really don't think it's necessary-" Sonia says, but John cuts her off. "Sonia, it's wrong. You gave her a memory it isn't hers without her permission. A false memory of me." John says. Sonia shakes her head. "It's not like that. It's like a dream, okay, or, or an impression."

"Oh." John says not convinced. "It'll fade." Sonia says. "And what if it doesn't? You should tell her. If you don't, I will." John says. Sonia shakes her head. "You don't know how she's gonna react. Okay, say you tell her. Maybe she's cool with it, or maybe she leaves. And if she does, then you can forget about saving anyone. Look, I know that you're not happy with what I did, but I had no choice, okay? I had to save you. All of you. And if I'd had the time, then, yes, I would have asked her." Her voicer lowers when others pass by. "And what if she said no?" John asks. Sonia shrugs. "I wasn't gonna let you die. This is a war, Johnny. In case you forgot." With that she walks away from him. John sighs and goes to find Sage and Harry he needs a distraction.

Night soon falls over the underground and everyone, except a collective few go to sleep. Clarice is among them when she closed her eyes she dreamed of _him._

_The alleyway isn't familiar to her, but John is. They have a rather intimate moment. At first it starts with a kiss and then it escalates from there._

Clarice's jade eyes shoot open she places a hand on her head confusion written all over her face. She sits up on her cot turning on the lamp she looks at the clock on her mini nightstand. _3:30 a.m._ It reads Clarice sighs.

_Meanwhile on the other side of the Underground..._

"I don't like it, brother. Whatever you think this is gonna cost, it's gonna be more." John says as he leans against the pillar burner phone next to his left ear. "Yeah, I'll deal with that later. Listen, they made some calls to some contacts they have in Sentinel Services. They're moving Lorna and Reed by truck. It's a convoy. I'll send you the route." John nods. "When?" He asks. " I don't know the time frame yet. I'm working on that. She's playing with me." John moves away from the pillar and heads upstairs. "She? Carmen? Marcos, you're dealing with Carmen? Are you insane?" Marcos sighs. "This is Lorna's only chance. I can handle it. I just have to-" the line goes dead. John lets out a frustrated sigh. Knowing that there is not point to call him back. John goes to his room to sleep on this new information so they can come up with a plan.


	8. Narrow X-cape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot longer than the last chapter, hope you enjoy!   
> Remember if you like it comment and leave a kudos!

The following morning John gets up early. After he showers and eats he goes to talks to Sage about what the Marcos told him last night. After they figure out the location John calls those who had volunteered for this mission to meet him in the surveillance room. Once they all accounted for (minus Marcos) he starts to go over the what his had discussed with Sage. 

"Eclipse found out that a convoy of military vehicles is taking Lorna and Reed to a military airport. Now, based on the route, the best place to hit it is gonna be an old warehouse district off Peachtree. Can you open a portal, get us inside the transport bus?" John stops pushing buttons then the tablet and turns to Clarice. 

"Well, if the driver can see out, then I can see in, but if the bus is moving, then it can get messy real fast." 

"Stop the bus not gonna be easy." John says. 

"Maybe Marcos can, like, melt the tires." Clarice says with a shrug. 

"When is he getting us the time frame for the convoy? He's been gone a while, Johnny." Sonia says with concern. 

"And he will be back. He's working on it now." John looks at Sonia with a nod. 

"Okay, regardless, melting their tires with lasers is hardly subtle. What do you think happens after that? A pitched battle. People die. Our goal isn't just to get Reed and Lorna. It's to get them alive." Caitlin says.

John nods. "She's right. Our job is to get in and out without dropping bodies. We need another way to stop that bus." 

With that in mind they leave all trying to figure out some way to stop that bus without any casualties. It's late afternoon when John gets approached by the Strucker siblings. 

"Hey, um John we have something to show you." Andy says a bit nervous, but with some confidence. 

John nods. "Alright, what is it?" 

"We can't show you in here, we have to go outside." Lauren says. 

With another nod John leaves the papers on his desk and follows them, on their way-out Caitlin joins them. John takes a seat on one of the cars while Caitlin stands a few inches behind Andy. They concentrate their power. First Andy uses his telekinesis to grip the back tire on the taxi and Lauren uses her force field to bust it. With a minimal explosion the tire goes lopsided. 

"Wow." John says impressed. 

"Right?" Lauren says with a smile. 

John gets us and they all walk over to the taxi. "That was pretty cool."

"Yeah, more like incredible." Andy says. 

"You guys think you can do that at a longer range?" John asks.

Andy nods. "Yeah, definitely. Anything you need." 

"The best part is no one will see where it came from, so-" Lauren gets cut off by her mom. 

"No. Kids are-are not attacking a convoy." Caitlin looks directly at John. 

"We don't have a good alternative here, Caitlin. We're running out of time." John simply says. 

"What, so you're gonna use child soldiers now?" Caitlin asks. 

"We're not kids like that anymore, Mom." Andy says. 

"I said no." Caitlin says and then she walks back towards the main doors. 

"Mom, please. I know you're scared. I'm scared, too." Lauren says to her mom. 

John gently grabs Andy's arm so he doesn't follow he gives the boy a look. To say, _let your sister_ _handle_ _it._ Once Andy gets it he lets go of his arm. 

"But think about what you said last night. About how sometimes we have to take risks." Lauren continues. 

"Really? You're gonna use my own words against me? Look, this isn't going to visit your Uncle Daniel. This is about trained men with guns." Caitlin says. 

Lauren nods. "We want to fight for this. You always said that there are things worth fighting for. Was that all just talk? You said it yourself There are risks worth taking." 

Caitlin sighs. "If I say okay, I can't have them in harm's way." 

John nods. "We just need them to stop the bus. They get out of there as soon as that's done." He doesn't have to look at Andy to know that he agreed with what John had just said. 

"Okay." Caitlin says after a while then she goes back inside. Lauren looks back at John and Andy and smiles. 

"Alright, you two practice some more, get some dinner and then get some sleep." John instructs before he goes back inside to find Clarice, Harry, and Sonia to tell them that the kids are going to stop the bus. Marcos still hasn't come back yet, but he has other things to worry about aside from his friend. But he'll have to go and track him down if he's not back soon.

It's around 9pm when Marcos comes back. John sees him as he comes downstairs. "There you are. I was about to go looking for you." He says. "Prison convoy leaves at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. They sweep the route at 9:30. We have a half hour window to set up." Marcos simply says. "Hey. Hey. How did it go? With Carmen." John asks. "Uh, it was fine. She was happy to help." Marcos says. John places his hand on his shoulder. "Look, you can talk to me, man. All right? I don't want you to get caught back up-" Marcos cuts him off. "I did what I had to do. Okay? So, back off. We leave first thing in the morning." Marcos says as he heads towards his room. John sighs heading back upstairs to get some rest. 

**_Meanwhile in another part of the underground..._ **

Clarice had just gone to sleep, and her dream was uneventful for a while. Then once again the images of John and her outside in that alleyway come flowing back to her and she quickly opens her eyes. She sits up and plants her feet on the ground she sighs and pinches her nose. _What is happening to me?_ _I don't want to feel this way about him right now._ With a sigh she turns out her light and lies back down hoping to get some sleep. 

**_T_ _he following morning..._ **

Everyone who volunteered were woken up by John and Marcos. So, the Struckers, Harry, Sonia, and Clarice all had to take their breakfast with them in order to get to the warehouse and in position. Marcos, Sonia, and Harry were in position on the side of the building, the Struckers where on rooftop of another building directly across from the warehouse, and Clarice and John are inside the warehouse.

"Convoy's gonna be coming down this road. We should be able to see inside the transport bus from right here. Is this all right?" John asks looking at Clarice. "It's great." She says walking a short distance away from him. "Are you, all right?" He asks taking a seat on the ledge near the window. "I'm also great. Just, uh, haven't been sleeping really well." John nods. "Yeah, well, living at the headquarters, people coming and going, that could be an adjustment." She scoffs. "Yeah, well, anything's better than jail, right? What about you? Was it hard for you at first?" John nods. "It was almost impossible." Her jade eyes widen. "Really?" He nods. "Yeah." She shrugs. "You seem still seem so, I don't know soldier-y. Wouldn't think that anything was hard for you." She takes a step toward him.

He smiles. _It wasn't as bad, because I had_ _you_ _with me._  "At first it was just me and Polaris and this impossible task, you know?" She nods. "You ever think about walking away?" She asks as she takes another step closer to him. "All the time." He says. "What's stopping you?" His smile fades his expression blank. "What we're doing here. This is important to me. But everybody finds their own reason to stay." Clarice nods. "I just have to ask. The night that you guys saved me, we did go outside together and you kissed me? And nothing else right?" John nods. "Yes, we-we did. As to afterwards no, you went back inside and I went to get supplies with Shatter." She nods. "Right you would think after being there a few weeks I would remember something like that." She turns away and shakes her head. John looks at the ground. _Damnit Sonia. What did you do to her head?_

The pair is quiet for a while before John hears the convey approaching. "This is it." Clarice gets close to the window and waits for the bus to stop, only problem is it doesn't stop in the right place! "Why didn't the bus stop in the right place?" Clarice asks as she follows John. "I don't know, it doesn't matter now let's find it." He says then smashes his shoulder through solid concrete. "Damn." Clarice says, though she really shouldn't be surprised. She runs in after him and he locates the bus and jumps up four steps. "Up here." John says and holds his hand out to pull her up in the same plane. She grunts almost falling, but he catches her and holds her close for a moment before she pulls away. 

"Whoa. Okay." She says and faces the window. "Can you portal us into that bus from here?" He asks. "Yeah." She starts to make a portal open then she loses it. "Whoa." She says. "You okay?" John asks. "Yeah, I just felt something weird there." She says. "Yeah, I felt it too." She tries again, but nothing. "It's not working. Something's interfering with the portal." She says her eyes wide. "Let me see what's going on." He tries to uses his heighten senses, but nothing. "I can't track." He says with a sigh. "What's happening?" Clarice asks. John shakes his head. "No, that's impossible." Confused Clarice asks. "What's impossible?" He pats her shoulder. "Come on." He jumps down and races to an even closer spot with Clarice not far behind him.

"What are you doing?" She asks. "The only thing I've ever known that can disrupt mutant abilities like that is-" He pauses as he looks out this window. "Is what?" Clarice asks. "Not what, who." Clarice follow his gaze seeing a guy dressed like the sentinel services with his eyes glowing yellow. "You're saying that guy out there is what's messing us up?" John nods. "His name is Pulse. He has the power to disrupt systems, shut down electronics." Clarice nods. "What does that have to do with us?" She asks. "He can also disrupt mutants. He can suppress abilitiesfor at least two blocks." Clarice looks back at Pulse. "And he's working with them?" She says clearly pissed. "Not when I knew him. He was my best friend. I thought I saw him die on an attack at a Sentinel Services Relocation Center."

Clarice looks back out the window. "Looks like you're wrong about that." John nods his expression serious. "I got to get to him. I got to stop him. Go check on the others. I got to get out there." He leaves Clarice and heads outside. 

John hears shot being fired, but he does not care he only cares about getting to Pulse. He moves slowly staying hidden behind a military truck he sees and officer approach. John wastes no time and tackles him to the ground. They both get up and its hand to hand combat, once John disarms the solider. He blocks the man's punch and then hits him back right in the face then knees him in the stomach and then tosses him into the truck and he's out. John then turns to Pulse backing out of his line of view then tackling him to the ground. Pulse loses focus for a second "Pulse, it me John." He thinks he got through to him only for Pulse's eyes to go back to yellow. John grunts then clutches his fist as then he punches Pulse right in the face, knocking him off his feet and on the ground. John could feel his powers coming back again. He then notices a strange tattoo on Pulse's left wrist.

He looks off to his left to see Clarice's portal open and Sonia and an injured Harry go through, but no Marcos. John shakes his head when he hears an explosion. He heads in that direction he sees Marcos sitting on the ground he crouches down next to him. "You okay?" John asks. "Yeah. Better now. You're bleeding?" Marcos asks slightly shocked. "I'll explain later. Look, we got to get out of here." John says. "No, no, I'm not leaving." Marcos says shaking his head. "Sentinel Services is gonna have reinforcements coming in." John tries to reason. "John, I'm not leaving without Lorna." Another explosion goes off.

"The mutants have their powers back!" They hear someone yell.

"Come on." John says as he gets up and runs to the corner. He stops and Marcos us on his left they watch as the bus windows shatter and the back door is blown off. Out comes Lorna and Reed close behind and he's limping. As Sentinel Serivices open fire Lorna turns and stops the bullets in their tracks she then pushes them back at the agents. She clutches her fists and every single agent is disarmed. "Looks like she's doing just fine without you." John says as they watch the agents as they fall back.

Marcos and John come into view. "Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey." Marcos says as Lorna runs into his outstretched arms. "How did you find us?" She asks. "It really doesn't matter now." Marcos says. 

John helps assist Reed as a Sentinel Servies van speeds their way. John moves in front of everyone, but the driver is Caitlin and he relaxes for a second then helps Reed get to the passenger door. Caitlin embraces her husband for a moment while Marcos, Lorna, and John pile in the backseat. "Come on we have to go." John says. Caitlin nods as she hits the gas and they speed away from the scene.


	9. She Knows

After Clarice made that portal to help with Harry and Sonia to safety they head back to HQ. With some help they get Harry placed on his back in a table Sage had told Sonia to go and get some more towels and meds. Clarice stayed in the vault holding a towel to Harry's wound. He groans. _Come on, Caitlin please hurry back._ Clarice then takes notice to all the new refugees that had just arrived, but that's not her focus right now, helping Harry is.

_Several miles away from HQ..._

Once Caitlin pulled into the old lot and the car stopped everyone piled out. John and Lorna headed towards the new cars, with Marcos not far behind them.

"These cars aren't traceable, right?" Marcos asks while John and Lorna pull the sheets off the cars.

"New plates, no record. They're good." John says then walks over to them. While Lorna pulls on her jacket. "We got to talk. When we were out there, when we lost our powers-"

"Yeah, what happened? What did they have?" Marcos asks cutting him off.

"It was Pulse. He was there with Sentinel Services." John says.

"What?" Lorna says.

Marcos shakes his head. "That's impossible. He died."

"Marcos, I saw him. He's alive." John says.

"No, he hated Sentinel Services. He protected all his people in Macon." Marcos tries to reassure.

John rolls his eyes. "They raided that station."

Marcos shakes his head again. "No. No, he'd never work for them. God, if they can turn Pulse, then they can-" He gets cut off by John who closes his fist and listens.

"Sentinel Services drone coming in. We got to move, now." John says looking at the clouds.

"It'll see us soon. I'll draw it off, try to take it down." Marcos says.

"Okay, I'm coming." Lorna says.

Marcos shakes his head. "You just got out of prison, Lorna."

Arms crosses she says. "You, go. I go." Then she opens his door with her power.

Marcos smirks. "We'll meet you at headquarters. Go."

John nods and gets in the driver's seat of his car with the Struckers in the backseat he hits the gas and takes off towards HQ. It's not a long drive and the Struckers stay quiet and John's happy that it's not an awkward ride back. Putting the car in park they walk inside and John sees how overcrowded it is. He sees Shatter walking to some new refugees with blankets.

"Shatter! Hey. What are all these people doing here? What's going on?" John asks when he comes down the first flight of stairs.

"More like what isn't going on. You need to talk to Sage." Shatter says before he goes back to work. John heads down the last flight of stairs and straight to Sage.

"How long has it been like this?" John asks. "A while. Soon as you hit that convoy, Sentinel Services hit back." Sage says. "How hard?" John asks. "Raided every place there were even suspected mutant sympathizers. With no warrants. They are out for blood." Sage says. "We got our hands full. And we can't move anyone, not with this kind of heat." John says looking at the injured man getting his arm wrapped. "I'm manning the scanners, trying to keep our people off the grid." Sage says looking back at the monitors. "We need to keep listening. If anything comes up on the radio, we have to know about it." John says.

Not long before they hear an argument. "What do you think you're doing here?" Fade says.

"Let's talk about this." Reed says.

"We ain't got nothing to talk about!" Fade says then shoves Reed against the wall.

"What's going on? Stop it!" Caitlin says as the two men fight Fade disappears and John catches his fist before it collides with Reed's face.

"That's enough! What are you doing?" John asks.

"How about protecting us?" Fade answers back. John looks at him for clarification. "Just so y'all know, last time I saw this son of a bitch, he was working for Sentinel Services." Everyone starts chattering/.

John holds his hands out to calm them. "Every, just calm down."

"Calm down? This dude's job was locking up people like us." Fade yells.

"Just listen. My dad prosecuted mutants, okay? He did. When he found out about us, he stood up to Sentinel Services." Lauren says addressing the crowd.

"Yeah. By wearing a tracker into my bar." Fade says.

"Hey, back off my dad." Andy says. Reed shakes his head at him.

"I was doing what I had to do to get back to my family." Reed tries to reason.

"'And I'm sorry.' That-That's it, right?" Fade says sarcasticly.

"All right. Hey, just hear him out!" John says.

Trader groans from the vault. Everyone forgets this for a second and looks at the injured mutant.

"Okay, stop. There are injured people here. Why are we attacking each other?" Caitlin asks.

"You go. You help them. Take Andy and Lauren with you. I- I'll work this out." Reed says placing his hand on his wife's shoulder.

"But, he's saying that-" Caitlin is cut off.

"Caitlin, I need you in here now!" Clarice yells from inside the vault.

"What he's saying is true." Reed confesses.

Caitlin's eyes widen. "What?" Trader groans again.

"You go. I can handle this. Let's work this out." She leaves taking the kids with her.

"What happened?" Caitlin asks Clarice once she and the kids are in the vault.

"He was shot. I don't know, it won't stop bleeding." She moves out of the way so that Caitlin can take a look at the wound.

"Hi. It's Harry, right? Harry, I need you to listen to me. I'm gonna take a look at your wound."

"It hurts." Harry says with another groan.

"I know. I need you to be strong for me. I need clean gauze. Towels will work, too. And painkillers. Dilaudid, fentanyl, even codeine, anything you can find." Caitlin says to Clarice.

Nodding she runs out of the vault moving through the crowd to find Sonia grabbing some more towels.

"Hey, there you are. Listen, some of us been talking. About that lawyer who just came in." Shatter says leaning against the door.

"What about him?" Sonia asks.

"Might need you to do your thing. Now, if folks decide that he's not welcome, you're gonna have to make him forget this place and everyone in it." Shatter says.

Clarice looks up from her task suddenly curious about this.

"Yeah. I mean, if-if that's what it comes to. If Johnny says it's okay." Sonia says not looking at Clarice.

"Well, it might be that we need to do it even if he doesn't." Shatter says. Sonia nods and he leaves.

"What was he, uh, talking about? Was he asking you to, what, erase memories?" Clarice asks.

"Uh, I manipulate people's memories. Sometimes we just use it for security purposes." Sonia says not making eye contact.

"Really? I just thought you were able-" Clarice gets cut off.

"You know, we should really get back." Sonia says taking what she has and quickly leaves the room.

Clarice looks out the glass to see John talking to Reed and Fade. Then that memory of her and John comes flowing back to her. _So, Sonia messed with my head, and that explains why I want John back so much._ Tossing the last thing she needed into her bucket she storms out of the room and back to where Caitlin and Harry are. Handing over the supplies she leaves to go find Zingo she really needs to get away right now.

"How can we even think about trusting him after what he did?" Fade asks. John rubs his temples. "My own children are mutants. Do you really think I'd betray the one place that's protecting them?" Reed fires back. "You already tried once." Fade says crossing his arms. "I am simply asking you to-" Reed tries yet again, to explain. "No! You can't ask me a damn thing." Fade says glaring at the other man.

"Let him talk. We're not going to get anywhere if you don't-" His comment is cut off by Sage.

Leaving the two men he follows her back to the monitors she tells him about the chatter about the manhunt and then it just stops. While he and Sage listen in. Reed comes in offering his input on the situation. He asks about a map and shows them that Sentinel Services is working a grid looking for them. With Reed's help they come up with a simple plan to take the heat off of Marcos and Lorna. It was a bit difficult to get Fade to help, but by John's command he did like he was told. Ten minutes later Reed and Fade head out. John and Sage listen as their radio goes off about a suspect being spotted on Elm.

"It's working. They're redirecting their search south. We're in the clear." Sage says. John shakes his head. "But he's not. Text his burner. Tell him to get out of there." Nodding Sage pulls out her burner and texts Reed. Fade did not pick up Reed in the right place. He did have him go around the corner which wasn't necessary, but it doesn't matter now they were both heading back to HQ. John left Sage to the rest he went to the vault and saw Harry stitched up and doing better from what Caitlin had told him. He nods leaving the room to go and find Clarice, only to find out that she and Sonia had gone to go help Marcos and Lorna. Shaking his head, he goes to his office and sorts out some bills.

_Meanwhile at an abandoned warehouse..._

Clarice and Sonia had just made it to the location where Marcos and Lorna were. Clarice walks over to Marcos who's looking out the window as Sentinel Services agents just arrived. They were cut off from the car, but they had Clarice.

"It looks like they're getting ready to move in. Can you get us out of here if things escalate?" Marcos asks. "Maybe." Clarice says. "Maybe?" Marcos turns to face her. "Dude, FYI, it's a bit more taxing tearing holes into space than it is turning your hands into flashlights." Clarice says her arms crossed. "Point taken." Marcos nods. Turning back to Lorna and Sonia.

"He knows what they did to Pulse. He doesn't want to share." Lorna says.

"Okay, I'll see what I can find out." Sonia says as she kneels on the ground next to Jace. "I'm warning you, whatever you're planning on doing, this is assault on a federal officer." Jace says trying to pull away, but couldn't. "Hmm. Don't worry, handsome. You won't feel a thing." Sonia says giving him a sly smile and putting her hand on his cheek.

Clarice watched curious about how Sonia's powers worked. She watched as Sonia blew her pink smoke in Jace's face his eyes closed for a second then shoot open. Clarice crosses her arms glaring at Dreamer. _Son of a bitch._

"Oh, hey. Hey, they're moving. Now, we are running out of time." Marcos says moving away from the window. "Then I'll buy us some more." Lorna says as she moves to the plie of old rusted metal. Using her Magnetokinesis she lifts them up and over her head and out the highest windows in the building they land in one of the Sentinel Service vans. The officers back off for a few minutes before they fire something into the building. "Watch out! Tear gas!" Marcos yells. They are all coughing. "Are you okay?" Marcos asks. Lorna nods. "Yeah, yeah I'm good."

"Is she done?" Clarice asks motioning to Sonia.

"Sonia, Sonia come on!" Lorna says grabbing her best friend and pulling her up.

Clarice turns the corner and starts to open a portal. "Hurry! This way!"

"Sonia! No, come on! It's too late! Come on! Come on!" Lorna says still struggling with Sonia. "Wait! Lorna! I can't leave him like this!" Sonia says but gets up just as Clarice has the portal big enough for them to get through. They are back at HQ and Sonia quickly leaves them to go and sketch what it was she saw in Jace's head. And 45 minutes later she calls everyone the monitor room.

They discuss the sketches and John points out the mark that he saw on Pulse's arm. Reed had known about the Federal Building in Baton Rouge, saying that several of his cases ended up being there. It wasn't much to go on, but it was enough for now. They knew they had to get in that Federal Building and get some answers. They dismissed and went to go eat if they hadn't already.

Clarice found Sonia on the second floor sitting on an old couch sketching some more. "Hey. I need to talk to you. Did you mess with my head?" Clarice asks. "What do you mean?" Sonia asks putting down her pencil. "I was watching you with the Sentinel Services guy. And then I remembered something. Last week, the two of us started to have a conversation, and now that conversation's just gone. And now I can't go ten minutes without this memory of John coming back to me. I'm asking you straight up, did you mess with my head?" Clarice askes again. "You couldn't use your abilities. Johnny was in trouble, and if you were gonna help, you-you needed a connection to him." Sonia says standing up. "You had no right. Were you ever gonna tell me?" Clarice asks. "Look, I know that you're angry, but you have to understand, people's lives were at stake." Sonia says like that supposed to help. _Angry? No, I'm livid._

"I don't have to understand anything. What you do is wrong. You decided that you needed to fix me, and now I get to live with the memory of loving my old boyfriend. Someone who doesn't love me." Clarice says jade eyes glaring. "I can take it away if you want. I can remove the memory-" Sonia is cut off. "Just stay away from me." Clarice says then storms away heading downstairs and to her space. Having no idea that John had heard the whole confrontation, but had nothing to say. Knowing that had he intervened that it would just make matters worse.

John had heard Sonia crying after Clarice had left, but he was not going to go up there and comfort her when she knew exactly what she was doing. Sighing he laid down on his bed thinking about how thinking would have turned out if John had just been honest with Clarice from the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts on the Finale and ThunderBlink. I love feedback!


	10. No Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is my longest chapter yet! Sonia will be in this one quite a lot. I hope this clears up something's about why John and Sonia are not together. And there is still more to come with Sonia I have only just begun... Enjoy!

_Flashback four years ago (Clarice had not disappeared yet) John_

_Phoenix, Arizona_

_John and several of the veterans wanted to help those who had lost someone in 7/15 disaster whether they were a human or a mutant. So, with some help from Clarice they were able to get everything set up pretty quick. She had to leave soon after because she had to get to work with a kiss she's gone and his marine buddies all smirk and laugh. John just shakes his head grabbing a clipboard as people started walking the streets._

_"_ _Hi, ma'am. I'm a mutant veteran who served in Afghanistan. My father served in the Gulf before me. A lot of men I led were injured there. But right now, we're trying to raise money for victims of the 7/15 disaster. So, anything you could do, I'd appreciate. My father'd appreciate. We'd all appre-_ _" John is cut off by the older woman._

_"Maybe some other time." She says then walks way._

_John sighs._

_"_ _You're raising money for Dallas? Is this a joke?_ _" Some random guy asks as he walks over to the table looking at the flyers._

_"A joke? No, it's not a joke. It's for people affected by the 7/15 incident." John says shaking his head._

_The man picks up the flyer and crumbles it up. "_ _Affected by mutants. You got a lot of nerve. You attack this country, and now you ask for money?_ _" He tosses it at John it hits him in the chest, but he didn't feel it. The man then walks away._

_John clutches his fists on the clipboard that he's holding and it bends. "_ _Hey, I defended this country! All right? I served two tours! You have any idea how many of us died over there?_ _" John's friend Thomas comes over._

_"_ _John, John, forget about him._ _" Thomas says. "_ _Can you believe this? This guy's blaming us for what happened._ _" John says shaking his head. "_ _Hey, he's an idiot. Don't let it get to you._ _" Thomas says giving him a pat on the back. John nods then he hears tires screeching in the distance. His eyes widen. "What is it?" Thomas asks. "Get everyone away from the street." Thomas nods and starts shout at people to get back._

_"Everyone away!" John says as he ushers a mother and her son away from the street. The guys in the truck throw a bomb on the sidewalk and speed away. John quickly runs to it and tosses it over into another lot. "Get down!" He grabs the blonde woman putting his hand over her head just as the bomb goes off causing a small explosion with some derby flying every which way. John catches a part of a car in his bare hand and looks around. His friend Thomas helping a woman who had fallen and all the screaming, helping the blonde woman to her feet. She thanks him and walks away._

_"I think it's time we go." John's former commanding officer says. With a nod they all pack up. Then they clean up the derby and place the broken pieces in the trashcan. They all get in their cars and head home. When John pulls up he sees Clarice's car in the driveway. Something is wrong, he quickly gets out of his car and into the apartment. He finds his girlfriend sitting on the old couch her jade eyes puffy from crying._

_"Clarice, hey what's wrong?" He asks as he walks over and places her on his lap. "I got laid off. That asshole of a boss just told all the mutant employees that they no longer have a job." She sniffs. "Did he tell you why?" He asks. "No, John what are we going to do?" She asks. "I'll figure something out." He says as he holds her closer. "I heard what happened on the news was anyone hurt?" She asks. "No, I promise I made sure of it." He says giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Good." She says as she rests her head on his broad shoulder. "Your dad would be proud." He gives a small smile._

_End of flashback..._

Mutant Underground

John sits at his desk looking at the photo of him and his dad. He looks up when Marcos knocks on the door. "Hey. Am I interrupting?" John shakes his head putting the photo in his pocket. "No, I was just thinking." Marcos nods. "I called around about Pulse. Now, nothing firm, but there are rumors of mutants hunting other mutants for Sentinel Services. Pulse may not be the only one." John rubs his temples. "We are barely staying ahead of humans. If they turn us against each other, we're done. Anything more about the Federal Building in Baton Rouge?" Marcos nods. "Yeah. I checked it out. Major mutant justice center for the Southeast. Reed Strucker worked with a judge there, so, the guy might have info on the program. If we can get in, we might be able to figure out what the hell's going on." John raises a brow. "You mean break in?" Marcos shrugs. " Well, they're not exactly gonna roll out the welcome mat for us. Look, John, I know this isn't how we usually do things, but-" John puts a hand up to stop him. "I don't care. What they did to Pulse, they changed their game. Maybe it's time we changed ours." With that he gets up leaving Marcos and goes to find Clarice.

He finds her in the back vault sitting on the old red couch petting Zingo. He walks in and leans against the vault door. "Clarice. There's a Federal Building in Baton Rouge that we need to get into. I know it's a lot to ask, but we think there might be information in there about Sentinel Services and what they did to Pulse." He says. She rolls her jade eyes and gives a slight nod. "So, is that all? That's all we need to talk about? You need the 411 on your old Marine buddy, so I just blink you into a building? I'm just a portable door-maker?" John scoffs. Clarice stands up. "Fine if you're not gonna bring it up, I will. Your friend Dreamer stuck a memory in my head without mentioning it to me or, I don't know, asking my permission. A memory that I'm sure you're familiar with because it's a memory of you."

John sighs. "All right. I'm sorry. I asked her not to do that, but-" She cuts him off. "But when she did, you decided not to say anything about it." She glowered at him. "It was an emergency. She did it to save the team. And afterwards, we still needed your help." As soon as the words left his lips he knew he was in the wrong. "Oh. Ah, I get it. You didn't want to tell me because you wanted to use me. FYI, you're not making this any better. I've got my own issues to sort out. My own people to find." She turns and goes to sit back on the couch. "Hey. Maybe-maybe I can help you do this." He kneels on the ground next to her. She shakes her head. "I'm not asking for your help. I just want to know. When we were working together in the warehouse and we were alone the way you looked at me. Was that real?" _Yes! It is! Tell her John!_ "Um, it's complicated." He settles on with a nod. _You jackass! You know that's not true!_

Clarice looks down with a sigh. "Well, lucky you. I'm gonna help make this a lot less complicated." She gives Zingo one last scratch behind the ears before standing and walking past him. Zingo whimpers. "Clarice come on." John stands and almost bumps right into her. "You know, when I got captured by Selene I at least knew I was being used." Then she storms out and makes a portal. "Clarice!" John hurry's out of the vault to catch her, but it's too late she was already gone, leaving a few papers flying in her wake. John lets out a frustrated sigh then punches the vault door leaving a dent. Marcos comes to get him once he calms down.

He follows him to meet up with Lorna, Reed, Sonia, Shatter and Sage. All waiting in the second-floor all standing around a table, while most of them, Lorna is sitting on the edge.

"Listen, everybody needs to understand something here. This isn't just about hiding mutants anymore. We are taking the fight to the enemy now. It's a matter of survival. Reed, can you tell us about this building?" John asks as he looks at Reed who's on his left.

With a shake of his head Reed says. "I wish I knew more. Some of my cases were transferred to Baton Rouge. There's a judge there, James Kresge. He dealt with most of my cases."

"And how many folks you prosecuted disappeared through this place?" Shatter asks with his arms crossed.

"It was rare. All they told me was that some of my cases were being prosecuted under a special federal program." Reed says.

"And you never asked for more information why?" Shatter asks clearly getting upset.

"We're not debating this. Look, what matters now is getting those files. If Clarice can get us in, then-" Marcos is cut off.

"That's not an option. Clarice, uh she left. She's gone." John says and looks right at Sonia.

"What, she just left? Why would she do that?" Lorna asks.

"It doesn't matter. We need another solution." Sonia says. John shakes his head.

"I could try to get us into the back of the building." Marcos suggests

"That's reinforced concrete. Cutting through this is gonna take at least half an hour." John says.

"Then I'll have to do it a lot faster." Marcos says with a shrug.

John shakes his head. "It's not possible."

"I can get us through." John and everyone else look to see Andy. "Andy." Reed says. "What? It's a wall. I can handle a wall, no problem." Andy says with a shrug."You and I should talk about this when-" Andy cuts his dad off. "Are we really gonna do this again? Talk about how only the adults can do anything? You said it yourself. It's a matter of survival, right? Yeah, so, if the Sentinel Services did track us down, the kids would be just as screwed as the adults, if not more. I can get us through that wall quicker than anybody else here. It's time you let me fight."

John looks at Reed. With a defeated sigh he agrees. Andy smiles and races off to go tell his mom and sister, Reed follows. Sage and Shatter go back to work. Marcos is going with Reed and Andy so he moves to leave with Lorna right beside him.

"Hey, Marcos, Lorna hold on a sec." John says they turn around.

"What's up?" Marcos asks.

John looks at Sonia. "Are you going to tell them? Or should I?"

"Johnny, it's not that important." Sonia says.

Lorna crosses her arms over her chest. "Well, one of you had better start talking Marcos has to leave in a few hours. So, spit it out."

"Fine, the reason why Clarice left is because Sonia planted a memory of me in her head. And she didn't tell her, so Clarice found out on her own." John says his arms crossed.

"Wait, so when you said that I should thank Sonia?" Marcos didn't even need to finish he sentence because John was already nodding.

"Sonia, why did you do this?" Lorna's voice was deadly calm.

Sonia rolls her eyes. "Johnny, Marcos, and the Struckers needed to get back without dropping bodies. I did what I had to do to get them back safely."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you don't tell her!" Lorna says.

"They needed help!" Sonia says glaring at John.

"Yeah, we did. But Clarice was nowhere near ready to do something like that. You put John in her head just so you could save him. And yeah, you gave her the confidence to get the job done, but now she knows that it wasn't the training that helped her. Walker and Eve were the same. And they hardly even went on any supply runs. And they left just like Clarice did." Marcos says.

"I was helping them." Sonia says.

Lorna shakes her head. "Helping lower their self-esteem? Sonia, that's not helping."

Sonia glares at her best friend. "Johnny knew, but he didn't tell her."

"Because, it wasn't my job. You did this even after I told I didn't want to take any shortcuts on training Clarice. Yes, I get that it was an emergency, but she had the right to know. You evaded her mind without her permission. And then you tell me that if she would have said no, you would have forced it on her anyway." John says.

"John, you don't get a pass. If you knew you should have told her. As a leader you shouldn't have kept this from her." Lorna says her voice still calm.

"Look, we don't have time for this. I have to go." Marcos says leaving them with Lorna sending both John and Sonia a disappointed look she follows her man. John shakes his head and leaves a Sonia knowing that they both need to cool off. He goes downstairs to watch and listen in with Sage.

Soon it's time for Marcos, Reed and Andy to leave. When they were gone he started putting up huge blocks of concrete on the outside to offer up some protection. His senses pick up when he places the next block on top of the other.

"Lorna." He turns around.

"Don't, John. I'm not the one you need to apologize to." She says her arms crossed.

"I know." He says.

"Why did you let this happen? Did that memory that Sonia place in your head stop you from doing the right thing?" Lorna asks.

John shakes his head. "No, it wasn't that memory faded a couple years ago."

"Did it?" With that she walks away.

Shaking his head, he picks up another block of concrete and places it down next to the other two. His mind wonders back.

_Flashback two years ago..._

_Mutant Underground_

_"Hey, John. We got a new batch of refugees." Shatter says as John walks out of his office. He nods to his friend and heads down to meet them._

_This was nothing new, they always help mutants in need and it added to their numbers of friends and allies. John notice a woman with bright red hair struggling with some of the boxes that were being brought in. He moves quickly, taking them from her before they fell._

_"Let me help." John says the woman blushes. He carries the boxes to an empty space with the red-head had clearly claimed for herself._

_"Thank you, my name is Sonia Simonson." She holds her hand out._

_He shakes it. "I'm John Proudstar." He releases her hand not hearing her gasps as he leaves._

_A few months later they run into each other or more accurately she runs into him literally. Before she falls he instinctively places his hands on her waist to steady her. He lets go when she's standing straight. With a small nod he continues on his way to Marcos they had to go on a supply run._

_After they get back John is in his office sorting out bills and some new information about his friend Pulse. Sonia makes her way into his office with a shy smile._

_"Is something wrong?" He asks not sure why she's looking at him like that. "Um, I just wanted to talk." She says. John nods he motions for her to sit in the chair across from his desk. "What is it?" He asks once she's seated. "I noticed that you were gone for several hours last night and I wanted to make sure, you were okay." She says not looking at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just was trying to track down a friend of mine and her trail lead me to a trailer park and then it went cold." John says with a sigh. All he wanted to do was find his girlfriend._

_Sonia stands, walking over and standing behind him. She places her hands on his shoulders and begins to massage them. This would have been exactly what John needed, but not from her. He closes his eyes and for a moment he lets himself enjoy it. Then his senses pick up a scent of roses and some pink smoke for a short minute he zones out. Images of him and Sonia flooded his mind. When he comes out of whatever the heck that was and finds Sonia sitting on his lap. She gives him a wink before getting up and leaving the room. He only takes a few seconds before following her to 'space.'_

_They start dating after that night and for six months John is fairly happy. That is until he doesn't see him and Sonia in the dreams he has it's some other man with more tattoos the John would ever get, that is if he could. Shaking his head, he goes to find Marcos and Lorna only to find Lorna in what seems to be a rather heated conversation._

_"What did you do to John?" Lorna asked her hands clutched. "I don't know what you mean?" Sonia says confused. "Don't play that bullshit with me. I know what your powers are and you're the only one that's been with John all this time." Lorna says rolling her eyes. "Johnny and I have just been doing what you are Marcos do." Sonia replies with a shrug. "Right, and that involves you messing with his head so that you would be with you?" Lorna says crossing her arms. Wait she planted memories in my head to get me to be her boyfriend? Clarice, I have wasted six months of being with Sonia and not out looking for her._

_John came into view, not that he needed to hide, he just wanted to see Sonia's reaction to his presence. Just like he thought she looked like a deer caught by headlight. Shaking his head, he walks away and outside. He hears Sonia following him, but he ignores her._

_"Johnny-" He cuts her off. "Don't. Don't act like you are the victim when that's me. Why did you do it?" He asks. "You were always busy. I wanted to get to know you, and eventually be with you." She says taking a step closer to him. "By, planting a fake memory of me and you when it was really you and your ex. I thought you were a pretty decent person, but I think you just showed me who you really are." He keeps moving towards his car and without looking back he gets in driving away. A few hours later he's back at the Underground and Sonia is sitting on the couch waiting._

_"So, am I being sent to another station?" Sonia asks her arms crossed. "No. Your power will be useful for security purposes." He says. "So, what now?" John knows what she's asking. "I think we should end it. I'm going to be honest I never liked you like that. There is no point of us being together, when we have an actual job to do." From that day on they stayed as friends from that day on._

_End of flashback..._

"Maybe a little to the left." Sonia says. "Figured it was time we started thinking about reinforcing this place." John says moving the huge block over some. "So, you never told me, how did your conversation go with Clarice?" John places another block down with a huff. "She left. So, I'd say not well. It's about par for the course these days." He says wiping his brow. "If you're talking about Pulse, that wasn't your fault." Sonia says shaking her head. "How do you figure that? I left him. I let Sentinel Services take him."

"You thought he was dead." Sonia says. "I was wrong. I should've saved him. I'm starting to think that maybe the X-Men made a mistake Choosing me to be part of the underground." John says looking at the ground. "Johnny, you can't think that way. I know you want to live up to who your father was, but you're doing all you can." Sonia says trying to reassure him. "It's not enough. We have more refugees in there than we can possibly save. I can barely protect a bunch of veterans." He says shaking his head. "You were chosen for a reason. The X-Men said a war is coming." Sonia says. "They didn't say we'd win." With that he walks away heading back inside to shower and change.

He picks up his burner answering the call only to find out another refugee station was hit. He goes downstairs to find Sage. She's monitoring the screens with Shatter close by. " Hey. Just got word from HQ in Alpharetta."

"What happened they get hit?" Shatter asks.

"Yeah. They managed to get about half of their people out. They're on their way here now." John says

"Here? We're already over capacity by at least 78%." Sage says.

"Yeah, well, that number's about to get a lot worse. Guys, I'm sorry. We don't have a choice here. We need to do something. We got to find space for 'em." John says.

"Okay." Sage says.

"You got it." Shatter nods they both leave to do just that.

John sighs as he sits on a desk.

"Hey. Are you alright?" Sonia asks. "Yeah. Yeah I'm alright." John says looking at her. "How'd it go with Marcos in Baton Rouge?" Sonia asks. "They got what they went there for." John says. "Without Clarice? I guess not everything requires a portal." Sonia says. "What you did what we did to her, it was wrong." John says. "Was it? Because it saved lives." Sonia says. "We kept the truth from her." John says shaking his head. "If we had told her earlier, she would have left earlier, and people would have died. Johnny it's okay. It's okay that you made it out and Pulse didn't. You have to keep moving forward." Sonia say wrapping her arms around his neck leaning in. "We can't do this." John says pulling back. "Why not? Because-because we're in a war? That just means all we have is here and now." She leans in again and John removes her arms from his neck. "Sonia, stop." His burner rings. "It's Marcos." Sonia looks as though she going to cry nods and walks away.

"Where are you?" John asks. "We're almost back." Marcos says. "That's good." John says. "Yeah, I'm not so sure, it is." Marcos says.

"He's still there. Two cars back." John hears Andy say.

"We've had a cop trailing us the last couple miles. No sirens, but something doesn't feel right. Has anything come up on the scanners?" Marcos asks. John looks at the scanners. "No. Nothing."

"He's on his radio." Andy says.

"Check the traffic agency public notices to see if there's any directives to avoid Buford Highway." John moves a few steps and types in what Reed had asked. "Is there anything?" Reed asks. "Uh, Yeah. Yeah there is." He hears Marcos sigh on the other end before he hangs up.

John closes his burner and goes to find Caitlin, Lauren, and Lorna. "They're heading straight into a police ambush. We think it'll happen here." John says as he points to the spot on the map.

"Why can't they just go somewhere else?" Lauren asks.

"There's no place to go. They're hemmed in." John says.

"How did this happen? I thought they got away. I-I thought that-" Caitlin gets cut off.

"The cops stopped them on the way up there. They didn't find anything, but the driver said he was going to Denver, so, when the tollway cameras in Baton Rouge spotted them." Lorna trailed off.

"Well, how do we get them out of there? We can't just leave them." Caitlin says.

"Wes can help. You saw him at training. He can make illusions, mirages, if they need to get away from the police." Lauren says.

Lorna nods. "That could work. I'll go get him." She moves to leave.

"I want to go, too. If it doesn't work out, you'll need me." Lauren says. Lorna looks at Caitlin for a response.

"Go. Go, before I change my mind." Caitlin says. Lauren smiles at her mom then follows Lorna out.

Once everyone is back John and Sage start going through the hard drives and see how the procurers work for the 'Hound' Program and all the mutants that have been tested on. Taking several files to his office he goes through them to see if anyone else that they know is in the files. Sonia joins him for a while and they sit in silence. She leaves after a few hours and John stays up a bit longer, before going to bed. His mind wonders to Clarice hoping that she's somewhere safe right now.

_Somewhere in Georgia..._

Clarice walks down some steps as she turns a corner and finds a decent place to sleep. She hadn't found much about that place she was trying to portal back to, but she wasn't about to give up.


	11. Reliving of the past PT 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John goes to track down Clarice and finds out a more about what happened to her. Past familiar X-Men characters

_Flashback Three years ago..._  

 _Some diner in Georgia_  

 _John was sitting across from Lorna as_ _they_ _ate and waited for their guest to arrive. The diner door jingled like it always does and in came the one person they were waiting for. John sees him first and moves shaking his hand_ _then_ _slid_ _es_ _in next to Lorna._  

 _"_ _Marcos. Thanks for coming._ _" John says._  

 _"_ _You bring me out to the sticks_ _just to try the coffee, or what?_ _"_ _Marcos asks._  

 _"_ If that's why you came out, prepare to be disappointed. Coffee sucks here. _" Lorna says as she uses_ _her_ _Magnetokinesis_ _to stir her coffee._  

 _"_ _This is Lorna._ _She's my partner on this thing._ _" John says._  

 _"_ _Encantado." Marcos says._  

 _"Hi." Lorna says._  

 _"_ _I'll get right to it._ _We've heard a lot about_ _you, what you can do._ _We want you to join_ _the Mutant Underground._ _" John says._  

 _Marcos looks from Lorna to John then chuckles. "_ _Listen, I'm flattered, but, uh_ _I don't think you guys get my situation._ _"_  

 _"_ _Your situation's why we're here._ _We know your story. You're already_ _helping mutants cross the border._ _We just want you to do it full-time._ _" Lorna says._  

 _"_ _That was just a side thing, okay?_ _There was room in a couple of trucks,_ _so_ _I gave some people_ _a ride, that's all._ _" Marcos says._  

 _"_ _You really want to run_ _drugs for the Guerra Cartel_ _the rest of your life? You_ _could make a difference._ _" John says._  

 _Marcos shakes his head. "_ _It's more complicated than that._ _"_  

 _Lorna rolls her eyes. "_ _What, because you're dating_ _the boss's daughter?_ _Get a new girlfriend._ _"_  

 _"_ _That simple, huh?_ _Just break it off?_ _" Marcos asks._  

 _"_ _Sure._ _Tinder's full of girls_ _that are into mutants._ _" Lorna says._  

 _"_ _Yeah, you don't know Carmen._ _She's, uh she's tough._ _" Marcos says._  

 _"There are other tough chicks." Lorna says with a smile._  

 _"_ _Think about it, Marcos._ _The X-Men are gone._ _The government's cracking down._ _If mutants are_ _gonna_ _survive,_ _it's up to us._ _" John says Marcos takes one look at Lorna the sighs._  

 _End of Flashback..._  

"All right, listen up. Been talking with the other stations. Sentinel Services is ramping up surveillance across the board. So, it looks like things are gonna get worse before they get better." John says as he finds Marcos, Lorna, Reed, Sonia and Sage all in the same place downstairs.  

"Well, how much worse? With all these new refugees coming in, we're running out of food, blankets, everything." Lorna says.  

"I heard Marietta might have some supplies I can head up there this afternoon." Marcos says.  

"All right. How's it coming with the hard drives from Baton Rouge?" John asks looking at Reed and Sage. 

"We're working on cracking them." Sage says.  

"Well, the bad news is they're encrypted. But the good news is it probably means that there's something worth hiding." Reed says.  

John nods. "Okay, if we don't figure out how they're turning mutants against us, none of this is gonna matter. And one more thing. I'm gonna go track down Clarice." 

"Now? You really think that's a good idea?" Sonia asks. John can hear the bitterness in her tone. 

"She knows where this place is. If Sentinel Services catches her right now, it's gonna be a disaster. All right? We got a lot of work to do. Let's get to it." John says and with that they all head out to do their tasks with Sonia leaving first. Lorna gives John a smile before she and Marcos leave. John grabs his bag from the couch that Zingo had chosen to sit in and gives her a light pat on the head. "I'm gonna go get her back." Zingo wags her tail. John heads out taking the car and sets out to find Clarice.  

It takes most of the day, but he eventually catches up to her. Her trail leading him to an abandoned old school. He tracks her just to make sure that she's still there. He opens the first door with ease. He lets her voice lead him to her. She just dropped her soup can. 

"Damn it. Stupid soup." She says. Then she gasps, and that's John's fault he opened that next door a bit too loud. By the time he sees her she's making a portal.  

"Clarice, wait! Wait! Just hang on." John says his arms raised. She closes her portal and sits back down. "What are you doing here?" She asks. "Well, I'm not here for the soup. You're tough to track, you know that? You didn't leave much of a trail." John says. "Yeah? That was intentional. Acting like this is anything new is pointless." She says rolling her eyes. "Hey. Listen, I'm sorry, all right? What happened with you and Sonia, I should have told you." John says as he kneels down next to her. "You think? You know, I still see that memory she put in my head. It's like a bad soap opera I can't escape." She says after she shoves a folder in her bag.  

"I'm here to convince you to come back. You're not safe out here right now." John says. "You're concerned for my safety? That's why you came?" She asks looking into his eyes. "No, that's not all. The Underground needs you." John settles on. _NO! That's not it! I need_ _you!_ "The Underground? Got it. Sorry, but that's your battle, not mine. I have stuff to do." She says standing up with her jacket and bag. "'Stuff'? What stuff?" John asks as he follows her out of the room. "Remember when I got sick? I kept trying to portal to that road?" She asks. "Yeah, somewhere out in the countryside." John says with a nod. "I'm trying to find that spot. You guys taught me that none of this is random the reasons why we use our powers, what we do. That road must mean something to me. And I want to know why."  

"Let me help you find it." John says. She scoffs. "What? No, I don't need your help." John rolls his eyes. "Yeah, you do. I've been tracking you, remember? You clearly have no idea where you're headed. Let me do this for you. I owe you, if nothing else." He says then looks at the sliver plain ring on her finger. "Fine." She finally says. John smiles and grabs his bag. "So, how about I go and get some food?" Clarice looks at him confused. "You were going to eat before I showed up." She nods and pulls out the sleeping bag. "Right you do that." She says then looks away. It wasn't long before he had returned with takeout.  

They ate in silence then John asked. "Clarice, I have to ask, how did you get that tracker out of you?" She stops eating for a moment.  

"It definitely wasn't easy that's for sure. I'm going back to the part where I had just portaled myself on that plane." 

 _Flashback four years ago..._  

 _Clarice sees the cargo hatch_ _close_ _Storm summons lighting stopping Selene in her tracks to buy Clarice some time the plane is already high up. She opens a portal and tells them to go through. W_ _ith one final attack that leaves Selene unconscious they jump through finding themselves in the cargo bin and they relax._  

 _Storm looks over at her and smiles. "We did it." Clarice nods as she catches her breath. "Yeah, we did. Now we have to get far enough away so we can find someone to take these trackers out of us."_ _Ororo_ _nods as she holds Evan in her arms. "We should try and rest, we need to be ready in case we are followed." Clarice nods and leans back and closes her eyes._  

 _Clarice is jolted awake by the planes landing. Once it comes to a complete stop, they rush and hide behind some boxes. The cargo hatch opens, two men come in and get a few boxes then head out again. The trio comes out from their spot and dash out of the plane into the night, not knowing where they were going, until they got to a warehouse._  

 _"Where are we?" Evan asks._ _Ororo_ _looks at the address on the building._  

 _"We are in California." She says as they head around the back looking for some shelter._  

 _"What are we going to do now?" Evan asks._  

 _"We're going to get, some more rest and then find someone who can get these_ _trackers and_ _collars off of us."  Clarice says with a smile._  

 _"I know someone who can help, but he_ _may be_ _hard to track down."_ _Ororo_ _says as they continue to walk and soon find_ _an abandoned old loft which was still fully furnished and not to bad looking._  

 _"Well, until you can we need to eat and sleep, I think if we can't find something about this friend of yours then we should be out of here by tomorrow night. Selene will not stop until she catches us again."  Clarice says and_ _Ororo_ _and Evan nod._  

 _They_ _manage to find some stale cereal and bread and they eat that saving what they could for the_ _morning_ _. After they ate they went to sleep. It was nearly 7 when they woke up. Clarice was awoken by_ _Ororo_ _._  

 _"I'm going to head into town a see if I can find out anything about my friend."_  

 _Clarice nods. "Just who is this friend of yours?"_  

 _"His name is Remy Lebeau, but he goes by Gambit."_ _Ororo_ _says._  

 _Clarice yawns. "But, how are you going to find him if we can't be seen?" She gestures to_ _Ororo's_ _eyes and hair._  

 _"It's California, it's one of the few places that people don't care what we look like. So, I should be back within a few hours so, can you watch Evan?"_ _Ororo_ _asks._  

 _"Sure thing, and hey be safe." Clarice says._  

 _Ororo_ _nods and then she leaves. Clarice eats some of the food and when 9 rolls around Evan comes and takes a seat next to her._  

 _"Where's Auntie O?" He asks as he eats his breakfast._  

 _"She's out looking for some leads on her friend so we can get these collars and trackers out of us." She says then she notices his sad expression. "Hey, she's going to be okay._ _"_  

 _Evan nods with a_ _small_ _smile then finishes off his breakfast. Then Clarice finds several blank canvases and places them in different parts of the room._  

 _"Hey,_ _Evan_ _let's see how much we can hit before we get zapped. Just the canvases not anything else." She says. Evan nods a spike comes out of his hand._  

 _Clarice opens up a small portal, "Are you ready?" He nods. "Okay, go!"_  

 _Evan shoots multiple spikes through the one portal and they hit most of the canvases that are on the_ _other side_ _of the portals. They keep at this until they both feel a sharp pain in_ _their_ _necks. Then the door opens and in comes_ _Ororo_ _with several bags in her hands._  

 _"Where did you get those? And what did you find out?" Clarice says as she gets up and looks through the bags that have some food clothes and some water._ _Ororo_ _also has three backpacks with her._  

 _"I use to be a very skilled_ _thief, turns out I'm still quite good at it. As for Gambit,_ _yes,_ _I found him,_ _but_ _he's not here. He's in Las Vegas._ _"_ _Ororo_ _says._  

 _"Vegas what's he doing there?" Clarice asks._  

 _"He's quite the gambler. It wouldn't be the_ _first time that he had gotten bored of the casino's in New Orleans."_ _Ororo_ _simply says. Clarice nods and they eat and change then pack_ _their_ _bags, after a short nap they head out._  

 _"_ _Ororo_ _where did this car come from?" Clarice asks._  

 _"_ _Honestly_ _? It was given to me by a_ _car salesman. And I was_ _nowhere_ _near any dealership._ _"_ _Ororo_ _says as she places her bag in the backseat close to Evan._  

 _Clarice sits in the passenger seat and straps in as_ _Ororo_ _starts the_ _engine. The drive only takes them 3.5 hours with one stop at a gas station to fill up and use the restroom. They park in the public parking lot of the Aria Resort & Casino. _ 

 _"How do we know that he's here?" Clarice asked._  

 _"Remy always likes to show off his power and his signature in all around this place." Storm says then she takes Evan's hand. "Stay close by my side or Clarice's we do not want to_ _lose_ _you in that crowd."_  

 _"Okay, Auntie O." He says and they all head inside the Casino part of the hotel. It does not take long for Storm to find her old friend. Remy was the kind of guy that Clarice would want to stay away from, but his_ _unusual_ _red eyes draw you in._  

 _The crowd cheers as the red-eyed mutant had just won another hand then he spotted his friend._  

 _"Do, my eyes_ _deceive_ _me? Or is_ _dat_ _Stormy!" He gets up and looks to the dealer. "Dis is my last game_ Mes amis are here and I must go. _"  With that his dealer gives him his ticket and he_ _goes_ _to cash it out._  

 _"Gambit, you know how much I hate that nickname."_ _Ororo_ _says but she smiles._  

 _"_ _Shh_ _, not here Stormy." Remy says they take the elevator up to his room. "So, Stormy qui is dis?" Remy asks looking at Clarice and Evan._  

 _"This is Evan and Clarice. Gambit we need your help."_ _Ororo_ _then points to the collar around her neck._  

 _Remy nods, "Ah, qui I can take care of dis." He then moves to Storm placing his hand on the collar and his power to destroy it without hurting Storm._  

 _"I see that you have a better handle on your powers now."_ _Ororo_ _says as she rubs her neck._  

 _Remy shrugs as he kneels down and does the same thing to remove Evan and then Clarice's collars. "It would seem so, now want to tell Gambit how_ _ya_ _ended up with_ _dat_ _?" Gambit gestures to the ashes on the carpet and Evan._  

 _"We were abducted and this crazy lady with absorption powers forced us to save other mutants like us from an actual war that is going in Africa. But, Auntie O, and Auntie C were able to come up with a plan to escape and now were here." Evan says. Clarice and_ _Ororo_ _look at him with wide eyes that was the longest Evan had ever talked since they had escaped._  

 _"_ _Tante_ _Stormy? So, let Remy get dis straight,_ _ya_ _have been in Africa for 6 months and now_ _ya_ _have escaped and dis lady qui did dis to_ _ya_ _kidnapped_ _ya_ _?"_  

 _"And we also have trackers in our bodies somewhere that we can't get out." Clarice_ _chimes_ _in._  

 _The Cajun's red eyes widen. "Quoi?!_ _"_  

 _"Remy please we must get them out before Selene_ _gets_ _a hold of us again. I fear she is not yet done with us."_ _Ororo_ _says as she places a hand on his shoulder._  

 _Gambit sighs. "I can't get those out, Stormy. But I know someone who can and_ _ya_ _ain't_ _gonna_ _like it."_  

 _Storm's cerulean eyes narrow. "Remy."_  

 _"Stormy, it's Forge."  Gambit says. Clarice looks at_ _Ororo_ _then back at Gambit._  

 _"_ _Okay, so just who is this Forge?_ _" She asks._  

 _"Forge, is my Ex. He can help us get these trackers out. We should get going it’s only a matter of time before Selene finds us."_ _Ororo_ _says._  

 _"And I know where he is. Allons!" Gambit says as he takes several decks of cards and his staff which he straps to his belt._  

 _Gambit packs all his stuff and gets checked out of the hotel. Storm opens the trunk and Remy places his bags in. Clarice decides to sit in the backseat with Evan. While Gambit drives and_ _Ororo_ _in the_ _passenger_ _side._  

 _"So, where is Forge exactly?" Clarice asks._  

 _"He's in Colorado at_ _da moment,_ _dats_ _where we_ _headin_ _'._ _"_ _Ororo_ _looks back giving her a small smile then for the next 6 hours they drive with_ _two bathroom_ _breaks as well as getting some lunch and dinner. They find a mini motel and get two rooms for the night._  

 _"So, I'll room with Stormy and_ _ya_ _and the petite can be in da other one Evan." Gambit says._  

 _Clarice shakes her head. "Not, a chance. Evan rooms with_ _Ororo_ _because she knows how to calm his down_ _in case_ _he has a nightmare. You can room with me unless you have a problem with that?"_  

 _Gambit holds his hands up in surrender. "Non, petite. I knew_ _ya_ _couldn't resist me." He says with a wink._  

 _Clarice rolls her eyes grabbing the room key and storming off to the room. Once the door is open she tosses her bag on the nearest bed and wait for her temporary roommate to arrive. And when he does he goes over and places his bag on the other bed._  

 _They don’t_ _talk and_ _Clarice goes to take a shower_ _relieved_ _to have some privacy. When she's done she turns off the water and dresses in some sweats and a t-shirt. She comes out and sees Gambit shuffling a deck of cards. She climbs on her bed and goes to sleep._  

 _The next morning after checking out of their rooms and grabbing_ _some_ _breakfast at McDonalds they get back in the_ _rode with_ _Ororo_ _driving this time,_ _after_ _making a few stops the finally arrive in Colorado by nightfall. Storm pulls over into a parking lot and turns to Gambit._  

 _"So, where is Forge?" She asks._  

 _"_ _Lemme_ _take ova Stormy, I promise we will be dare within 20 minutes."_ _Ororo_ _sighs and gets out of the car to and switches places with Remy. True to his word they arrive at in the suburbs and they all pile out. And follow Gambit to the right house with a mechanical arch on the door. Remy knocks and a minute later it opens. Revealing a tall Native American man with a metal leg._  

 _He looks at everyone then looks back at_ _Ororo_ _. She rolls her eyes. "Hello, Forge."_  

 _"Hey, Rory. Uh, what are you doing here?" Forge asks._  

 _"We need your help to get these trackers out of us." Storm says as she gestures to herself, Evan and Clarice._  

 _"Well, are_ _ya_ _gonna_ _let us in or not?" Gambit asks. Forge moves out of the way so they can come in._  

 _"So, how_ _exactly_ _is he going to get_ _these things_ _out of us?" Clarice asks as she looks around the room they are_ _in which is filled with different kinds of tech._  

 _"Well, first I need to know where these trackers are and how did this happen?_ _" Forge asks. Gambit spends the next 10 minutes telling Forge how they ended up like that and_ _their_ _names. Forge was shocked when he had found out the_ _Ororo_ _had been captured he thought that no one could catch the weather witch. "Well_ _I_ _guess that explains why you never answered my calls Rory."_ _Forge_ _says._  

 _"Please do not call me that, now are you going to help us or not?"_ _Storm_ _asks her arms crossed over her chest._  

 _"_ _Of course,_ _just give me a few minutes to build something that can." Forge says._  

 _Clarice rolls, "Yeah, it's not like we don't have a crazy mutant who can absorb our powers coming after us."_  

 _Gambit chuckles, "_ _Ya_ _, have a lotta fire to_ _ya_ _, I like_ _dat_ _in a woman." He says._  

 _"Leave her alone Gambit."_ _Ororo_ _says and soon Forge comes back with his little device._  

 _"What's that?" Evan asks._  

 _Forge smiles. "Hey, don't worry all this is going to do is make getting those trackers out a smoother."_  

 _Clarice's jade eyes widen, "Please tell me your joking."_  

 _"Afraid not and it was the best I could do on short notice." Forge says. Then he has them sit down first starting with Clarice. And a few minutes later she goes running to his bathroom. When she comes back he grabs his scanner. "The trackers out. Ow!" He says rubbing his now sore arm._  

 _"I would have_ _rather_ _you just cut me open then have to go_ _through_ _that._ _" Clarice says._  

 _Forge chuckles and goes to do the same to Storm and Evan. They too go running to different bathrooms. After they get scanned Forge then asks about Evan._  

 _"He's not mine his mother was murdered right in front of him. I just couldn't leave him."_ _Ororo_ _says._  

 _"That's so like you Rory, to care for something else and care about them more than someone." Forge sneers._  

 _"Hey back off! I don’t know what went down between you two, and I don’t care. Without_ _Ororo_ _we would not even be here!" Clarice says._  

 _"I dink_ _dat_ _we should be on our way. Merci Forge, and don’t ever talk about my Stormy like_ _dat_ _again. Allons!" The trio follow Gambit out of the house only to have Forge grab Clarice by the arm._  

 _"It's not like you would understand, you never lost something that you loved." His grips_ _tightens_ _._  

 _"Yes, I do. I was taken away from my_ _fiancé_ _and I lost a precious part of me four_ _months_ _ago. So, yeah in a sense_ _I_ _do know what it's like."_  

 _Thunderclaps and the winds pick up. "Let her go, Forge!" They both look in front of them and see that Storm's eyes have turned white and Gambit has a few cards charged ready to let loose. Forge releases her arm and goes back inside his house_ _slamming_ _the door behind him._  

 _"So, where to now?" Gambit_ _asks._  

 _End_ _of_ _Flashback..._  

"Wait, what did you mean when you said you lost something precious?" John asks. Clarice looks at John then turns to look away. "That night you proposed, the same night you made love to me. And a few days later I get taken and then that doctor checked me out." She looks at him with tears in her eyes. "Clarice, what are you saying?" John asks still confused. "John I was pregnant." 

* * *

**_Hello everyone I know it has been a long while, but here you go another long chapter! So let me know what you thought about it and tell me is there any X-Men or Brotherhood characters that you would like to see? Until next time..._ **

**_Allons= Let's go!_ **

**_Da= The_ **

**_Dare= There_ **

**_Dat= That_ **

**_Dis= This_ **

**_Merci= Thank You_ **

**_Mes Amis= My Friends_ **

**_Non= No_ **

**_Petit(e)= Small_ **

**_Qui= Who_ **

**_Quoi= What_ **

**_Tante= Aunt_**

 


	12. Wounded Heart

Chapter 12 Wounded Heart

_Pregnant? Pregnant._

_She was pregnant, and, where was I? Right, I was trying to be the hero and save her rather than being with her. Some leader I turned out to be I couldn't even protect Clarice or my unborn child._ John looks over at Clarice who had her head down since she uttered that she was pregnant. John feels his chest tighten like it was getting hard to breathe.

He was upset, but not with Clarice, no he was upset with himself, had he not sent her away then maybe their child would still be alive. This is all his fault.

"I know what you're thinking and this is not your fault." Clarice says. John's head snaps up. "Nope don't even try and blame yourself. Selene would have killed it. If anyone is to blame John, it's me."

"Clarice-" John starts. "Please, don't try to convince me otherwise! I made the choice to abort the baby, not you! And I regret it to this day!" Clarice wraps her arms around herself as a trail of tears leaked out of her green eyes. "But, it's not Clarice. You did what you thought was right. You said so yourself that Selene would have killed it and maybe even you." He says as he stands making his way over to her. "I should have fought like all the others, but I didn't like at coward I ran, like I always do." She says shaking her head and backing away.

John stops trying to approach her once he realizes that he's literally backing her into a corner. "You are not a coward, Clarice." She looks up at him with hazy green eyes. "Whatever." She sniffs and walks over to her sleeping bag and wiggles in. She's out a few seconds later.

John decides to stay up just a few hours more just in case she wakes. Once that time is up he quietly gets out his own sleeping bag and places it down, but instead of getting in he lies on top just in case they need to make a swift exit. He falls into a restless sleep.

_The next morning..._

Clarice wakes up before John does, or at least that's what she thinks as she gets up and grabs some clothes to use musty shower. When she comes out and dressed she finds John wide awake and waiting. She quickly gathers her clothes and move out of his way. She begins to pack up her stuff as she hears the water running in the other room. She wondered if he had a full six pack now, she saw his arms and they were a hell of a lot bigger than last time. _No Clarice stop thinking about his body he's not yours anymore._ She scolds herself soon the water stops she quickly finishes gathering all of her things as he comes out not much later his hair still slightly damp. He gives her smiles at her as if he knows what she's was thinking.

Clarice rolls her eyes, "Can we go now? The sooner we get this done the sooner I'll be out of your hair." with that she leaves heading out to the old school and to his tan 2008 Dodge Durango. He emerges a few minutes later once they're both in they set out to get a light breakfast. John takes a back exit and stops the car in the middle of the road. He gets out and starts to track, but he gets nothing.

"This road we're looking for, do you remember anything about it?" John asks as he turns slightly in his position on the asphalt. "No, I don't. You're the one that saw it. I was unconscious. Okay? I was hoping that I'd able to find something about it in the news, but-" John nods. "Yeah, well, Sentinel Services is pretty good about covering up mutant incidents, so." He stands and walks back. "Well, then, I appreciate your little quest for redemption, but obviously, this is useless. So, take off and chase your next scent, or do whatever it is you do." Clarice says as she quickly walks to grab her bag. "Clarice, come on. Let me help you." John says. "No, you can't because there's nothing to track, no trail to follow." She says as he grabs her bag.

"Yeah, maybe, maybe not. You could have a trail inside you." John says. "John, I'm seriously not in the mood for some hippie New Age talk right now. All right?" She says with a roll of her eyes. "Listen to me. When an animal is hurt or scared, their instinct is to take themselves to a place of safety A nest, a burrow." John tries to explain. "I don't have a burrow, okay?" Clarice says. "Yeah, but you did. You had a place where you felt loved and you felt safe. Clarice, where was that?" John asks. Clarice looks away. _It used to be with you, but before that._ Clarice's eyes widen she immediately gets in the truck. "Get in, I know where we have to go." John smiles as he gets in and they head off to the opposite side of where the Underground is.

John cuts off the engine and they get out and walk the dirt path hidden by the trees. "This kind of looks familiar, but all these roads look the same." Clarice says as she does a 180 turn to walk with John. "What did the house look like where you grew up?" John asked. She shrugs, "I don't know. One story. Not too big. It was a home for mutant foster kids. The ones who couldn't pass as human. I was only there for a couple years, back when I was supposed to be in high school." She scratches her neck. "Why'd you leave?" He asks. "The couple who ran it, you know, they took good care of us, but their idea of keeping us safe was to hide us away forever. Which really sucks when you're 15." Clarice looks ahead and sees something. "Wait, that looks familiar. I remember this gate." as she and John get closer to the wooden gate it creaks open and they walk further in. "That's the farmhouse." She says with a smile. John sees the white one-story house and his pace decreases.

As Clarice gets closer John's senses pick up and he sees Sentinel Services agents have already been here, he gets a bad feeling. "Clarice, maybe you should wait here." He says. "What? Why?" She asks as she turns around. "I think something bad happened." That only causes Clarice to run toward the house with John not far behind. She tries to open the door and sees the red tape that says in bold letters: **Sentinel Services crime scene. DO NOT ENTER.** "Oh, no, get us in now!" Clarice says. John punches through the wood and unlocks the door. It squeaks open and they go in.

"Carl? Denise?" Clarice calls out. "Sentinel Services probably searched all the houses in the area." John says. Clarice runs to the left and down a hall. "Maybe they got away. Right?" She sounded hopeful. John continued into the kitchen area and on the wooden back door were multiple bullet holes and as he got closer, blood and it still looked a bit it couldn't be more than a day old. He looks down, "Clarice, I'm sorry." He says when she walks into the room. Her eyes begin to water. "Oh, man." Her voice cracks. John instantly pulls her into a hug. "No. No. No." She says as she tries to get out of John's hold, but he won't budge. After a few minutes her cries cease. "Wait out front for me, I'll be right back." Clarice gives him a stiff nod and walks out the way they had come.

John takes a breath before he opens the back door and follows the trial. He notices that some of the kids were able to get away, but Carl and Denise weren't so lucky, they sacrificed themselves to save those kids, John felt a great amount of respect toward Clarice's foster parents. The trail went cold about 50 feet away from the house. He heads back and walks around the house to see Clarice with her arms crossed she looks so defeated.

"I found whatever traces I could. Looks like they died defending some of the foster kids that were living there." John says once he's close enough to her. "My portals brought everyone here. This is all my fault." She says and looks back at the farmhouse. "No, it's not your fault. Sentinel Services pulled the trigger. You cared about them. I'm sorry." She starts to cry again He pulls her into another hug. "I'm sorry." He repeats. She hugs him back. He pulls back after a while. "You know what I said yesterday about this not being my fight? I don't know if it was before, but it sure as hell is now." With that she walks back to the truck with a new-found purpose.

Once they got in the drive back to the Underground was silent, John would every now and then glance over at Clarice. Her face was emotionless the whole way. When they returned it was nightfall Clarice grabbed her bag and got out John not that far behind. At the top of the steps on the inside they glanced at each other and then proceeded down the first flight of steps. Clarice turned right and headed in the direction of her space hoping it was still available. John stopped as she left. Then he heard, "Johnny." He looked to his left to see Sonia waiting for him at the bottom he gave her a stoic look then headed in the direction of his room. He placed his bag on his table he'd deal with it later. He decided that he should check on Clarice he needed to know that she way going to be okay.

As he made his way to her space he spotted Zingo already making her way there he smiled and continued on. Once he reached the space John saw Clarice in her bed sleeping and Zingo sitting on the floor. He quietly makes his way in the room and takes a seat on the floor, he's just going to rest his eyes for a minute.


	13. The Hounds

Chapter 13 The Hounds

The first thing that John noticed when he woke up was that there was a blanket loosely draped over him. He then noticed that Clarice was still sleeping her purple hair covering her face. He smiled then quietly gets up and he places the blanket back on Clarice before leaving. He didn't have to say anything to Zingo because he knew she would be there to watch Clarice. He went back to his room grabbed some fresh clothes and takes a quick shower. When that's done he goes to grabs some breakfast. He takes a seat with small bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee.

He does not look up right away when Sonia comes and sits in front of him. "Hi, Johnny." She says. He looks up and gives a small smile with a nod and goes back to eating. "So, she's back for good?" Sonia asks. John puts the spoonful of oatmeal back in the bowl and looks at her, "Yeah, she is. Like I said it wasn't safe." He says then drinks some of his coffee. "I thought you would be back in a day, was she that hard to find?" Sonia asked. "Sonia you never cared this much about anyone that I brought back why start now?" John asked. "Johnny I was worried. It never took you a few days to find someone." She said.

"I found Clarice it took me 2 hours, but I found her. The rest of that time does not concern you." He says then eats the last of his oatmeal and downs the rest if his coffee. "Then why did you spend the night in her room?" John gets up taking the bowl and the cup over to the sink. "You're going to have to ask Clarice it's not my place say." With that he leaves and goes to talk with Sage. She tells him what had been going on for the past two days. Which wasn't much Lorna was training the teens, Caitlin was teaching the kids, and she and Reed were going through the police files that they had stolen from Baton Rouge.

"What was that?" John asks looking at the monitor.

Sage clicks some keys. "Sentinel Services just hit Perry, they have a 72.6% chance of all being captured." John nods and heads out.

"Shatter." He says as he turns the corner. "We're going to need to talk to the folks in Gainesville, make sure they're ready for more refugees." He says.

Shatter nods, "I'm on it."

John continues on making his way toward the stairs. "Hey, John, can I have a word?" He stops turns to see Reed he nods. "We need to go see my father in Chattanooga. I know it's a risk, but he is our only connection to Trask." Reed says. "You think he'll know something?" John asks. "Maybe, maybe not. We don't have much choice." Reed says with a shrug. John sighs, "The station in Perry just fell. We're going to pick up survivors now. You prep a car, some supplies. We'll leave as soon as I get back." John says as he climbs up the stairs knowing that Reed will get everything ready.

Once he's on the top floor he sees Marcos with two big black bags. "Clarice is getting the cars ready." He says. John takes the bag and swings it over his shoulder. "Clarice?" John asks. "Lorna's not coming, man." Marcos says as he starts to walk away. "Is something wrong?" John asks. "Everything's fine." Marcos says. "Marcos, a problem between you two affects everyone. You're both leaders at this station-" John gets cut off. "She's just not coming, okay?" Marcos says defensively. "All right." John says letting it go for now as they head back downstairs and towards the entrance.

When they get outside John sees Clarice switching the plates and Sonia approach her. "Hey. I know things have been awkward since you got back. I hope there's no hard feelings between us." Sonia says. _Is she serious right now? "_ Well, I'm going to have to disappoint you. I'm only here for one reason: my foster parents were slaughtered by the Sentinel Services and I'm gonna fight back. This is a war. And we're on the same side. It's the only relationship we need. _"_ Clarice says as she walks away getting in the passenger side of the car Marcos is going to drive.

Sonia looks slightly hurt then she turns to John. He just shakes his head and gets in the other car. They drive off to the church that Sage had told them to go and pick up survivors. Once they arrive the pastor comes out.

"Grateful you came so quick. Sentinel Services is even coming after us now. So much for sanctuary." The pastor says as they walk to the small barn.

"How many refugees are there?" Marcos asks.

"A dozen fled here when the station in Perry got hit. Plus a few strays." The pastor says.

"Let's load them up." John says. "I just have to hide them in here during services." The pastor says with a grunt as he tries to move the big trashcan. "I got you, Padre." John says as he places his hand on it and it moves away with ease. The pastor looks shocked he then moves to unlock the barn.

"It's all right. These are friends. They'll get you to safety." The pastor says as the mutants start to come out. One of them says 'wow'.

"Toss your stuff in the back, grab a seat, quick as you can. We'll brief you on everything once we get where we're going." Marcos says as he walks over to the back of his car. He pulls out the black bag he brought and places it on the ground. A little boy walks over as Marcos pulls out a teddy bear. "You want to keep it? Here you go." The boy smiles.

Clarice looks at the exchange and smiles, then she looks back in the barn to see a mutant girl with dirty blonde hair and a slightly blue face shy behind a latter. "Hey. You okay? It's all right. Come on. I got you." She says as she holds out her hand for the younger mutant to take. She does and walks with Clarice to the car. John feels his heart flutter a bit at the sight of Clarice and the girl.

"Hey, I need to talk to you." John notices a blonde with short hair say. "What is it?" He asks his senses alert now. "I'm a telepath. I can sense thoughts, if I'm close enough, and I've been getting some very weird thoughts from one of the others." The blonde says looking in the direction of the potential threat. "That big guy there?" John asks. "Not him, her." They look again the big guy has moved out of the way and a thin woman in grey shirt with a backpack. The telepath moves away.

John walks over to the woman and asks, "Excuse me. Ma'am? What's your name?" She looks but does not acknowledge him. "Hey." John says as he gently grabs her wrist and that's when he sees the tattoo the same one that Pulse has. Before he can say anything else he gets kicked in the stomach and launched to the trashcan making a huge dent in it. This mutant then punches the telepath in the gut and kicks some guy back in the barn.

"Everybody get down." Marcos says. The mutant then yanks the telepath over the hood of the car and she falls on the little boy with the teddy bear. Something snapped. John tries to punch her twice, but he misses while she gets several hits in and then kicks him in the gut he falls back and she hits him in the gut again before going after someone else. She pushes some woman and she falls back and hits the tree.

"Can you get me above her?" John asks Clarice. She nods, "Go." He runs, while Marcos fires off his lasers he traps the mutant. Clarice kneels and opens a big portal John jumps on the car then through the portal. He comes out the other and punches the mutant in the face then he restrains her using his legs to trap her and his arm locks with hers keeping her in place. She struggles against him, "Stop." He says.

"Stay down." Marcos says to the others who are still behind the car. The boy is in pain the telepath and other woman look him over. Marcos and Clarice both approach John. "So, what do we do with her?" Marcos asks.

John looks at Clarice, "Call HQ tell them to lock the cell doors and do nothing till we get back." She nods and grabs her burner to make the call. "Marcos check her bag. We need to know what else she had in store for us." He nods and goes to grab the bag.

"They are locking the cell as we speak. Now what?" John releases the mutant legs but keeps a strong grip on her arm and they both stand. "Now you open a portal to the cell and I'll toss her in." Clarice nods and opens the portal to the cell in HQ. John tosses her him and the portal closes. "Let's get back to HQ." They walk back to the cars after Marcos shows John and Clarice what was in her bag. They quickly get everyone in the cars and dash back to HQ without being caught. Once they got back they asked Shatter, Lauren, and Andy to take them to Caitlin to get checked out.

The trio met up with Sonia, Reed, Sage, and Lorna outside of the cell. "Is there a reason that she's in there?" Reed asks.

"She's a hound." Clarice simply says.

"So, she was sent as a spy?" Dreamer asks.

"Something between a spy and a suicide bomber. She had a beacon in her bag she could've activated when we brought her in. It would've sent Sentinel Services right to our front door. She had weapons, too." Marcos says.

"Yeah, it sounds like the station in Perry was hit by another one of these, uh, things." Lorna says looking at the mutant in the cell as she walks a bit closer.

"If Sentinel Services is planting these things out there, we may need to stop taking in refugees." Sage says.

John shakes his head, "You don't turn your back on desperate people because one of them might be dangerous." He then looks over at Reed who's sitting in a chair. "Reed. We should get on the road. Try and figure out whatever we can from your dad before it's too late." Reed nods and gets up. "Yeah."

"Hey, what about Little Miss Vicious?" Lorna asks.

"We got to get what we can out of her. See if you can figure out who she is." John says he turns to Marcos and Lorna. "Do you think you can handle this?" He asks them.

"Yeah." Marcos says.

"We'll be fine." Lorna says with her arms crossed. John gives a slight nod then walks away with Reed in tow. John goes to grab some water and food while Reed goes to talk to his family. They leave after that.

* * *

A few hours later Clarice left the group to help give out blankets and supplies to the new group for refugees since they may be staying for a while. Not that she minded she had just climbed the stairs to the upper level and as she turned she saw the little mutant girl sitting on a couch her expression blank. Clarice walked over and took a seat.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asks a bit loudly. The young mutant flinches. Clarice sighs, "My name's Clarice. What's your name?" Clarice asks. "It's Norah." The mutant girl says quietly. "Norah. That's a pretty name." Clarice says. "It was pretty rough back there. I know. Do you want to talk about it?" Norah shakes her head. "If you change your mind, my bunk's right down there." Clarice says as she points diagonally to where her bunk is. "Okay." Norah says. "Here. In case you get cold." Clarice says as she places a blanket on the seat and then she gets up and walks ways to give out the rest.

Clarice returns to her room after she's finished her task and just thinks about John and if he and Reed made it to where they were going without being caught. She shakes her head. _That's just the memory that Sonia put in your head that's not real. But what if he does really want you back? He went out of his way to find you again and he was here all last night? No, he probably wanted to make sure I didn't run away again._ Clarice rolls her eyes at the thought, but she has some hope that they can start over. She decides to go upstairs to get something to eat.

* * *

_Meanwhile in Chattanooga, Tennessee..._

"It's just up here." Reed says as they continue to walk in the light rain. "Your father runs an antique store? Thought he was a scientist." John says as they get closer to the shop. "He took it over when he retired. He's big on living in the past. That's it." Reed says as she points to the red shop just across the street. They make their way over and head inside.

John closes the door after them. They both look to see an older man working a wind-up box. He looks up and says, "Reed."

Reed says, "Hello." with a nod and walks a bit closer.

"I never thought I'd see you again." His father says.

"Well, I'm here. We need to talk."

* * *

_Back at the Mutant Underground..._

Clarice comes back downstairs and she sees that Norah has moved and Zingo is with her. Clarice smiles. "She likes you. You know, Zingo She's pretty particular about the people she likes." As she says that she takes a seat beside Norah. "She likes me, too. You know why? It's 'cause we're special." Norah looks up at Clarice when she says that. "We are. There's a lot of folks in here that just walk around, you can't even tell they're mutants. But not us. I got my eyes, my ears, you have your skin, and Zingo here is covered in fur." With that she begins to scratch Zingo behind the ears "You're covered all in hair, aren't you, Zingo? Yeah." Clarice smiles when she sees Norah smiling too. Then her expression turns serious.

"How'd you end up here? I mean, at the church." Clarice asks. "Mama D and I were making dinner-" Norah starts, but Clarice cuts her off. "Mama D? Norah, were you at the foster home on Burnhill Road?" She asks. "Yes. The men with the guns they came. I wanted to help. Every time I go to bed, I see them." Norah says as her eyes start to water. Clarice pulls her into a hug and rubs her back. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Clarice says as she continues to hold her.

* * *

_Back in Tennessee..._

Reed's father had made his way past both of them and towards the door to flip the sign over to 'Closed'. "You should have called. I would have told you not to waste your time. Who is this?" His father asks.

"My name's John Proudstar. Thunderbird." John introduces himself to the man.

"Ah, Thunderbird. Very heroic." Otto says sarcastically.

"He's with the Mutant Underground. They've been helping my family." Reed explains.

Otto nods. "Is that so? The men from Sentinel Services came by. They seemed to think they were a terrorist organization."

"We're not terrorist, sir." John says.

"No, no. Of course not. Freedom fighters, I'm sure." Otto says.

"We're not here to have a political debate." Reed says then sighs. "Did you hear what happened?"

"At the school? Yes. They told me about it when they interrogated me." Otto says.

"What'd you tell them?" John asks.

"That I never met my grandchildren and haven't spoken to my son in years. In other words, the truth." Otto's expression turned cold. "We need to talk to you about your work at Trask." Reed says. "My work at Trask was classified." Otto states. "I'm your son." Reed says. "Son or not, it's a crime to reveal classified intelligence. It's also a crime to harbor a fugitive. I assume they covered this in law school." Otto says not giving in. "My kids are being hunted by Sentinel Services." Reed says frustrated.

"This has nothing to do with me. I have nothing to say." Otto says shaking his head. "You said for years that Trask was just a defense contractor." Reed says. "Trask no longer exists. I don't have any-" Otto is cut off. "It opened up again! And they are doing anti-mutant research. Now, you worked there for 30 years. And it just turns out that your grandchildren happen to be mutants. Do you expect me to believe that that's a coincidence?" Reed asks as he moves closer to his father.

"They're experimenting on mutants. My own best friend was turned, somehow. He's working for Sentinel Services." John says as he too gets a bit closer.

"Dad, I need you." Reed pleads.

Otto nods, "Come. Upstairs." he says and then heads up himself.

"It's alright. Go." John says as he nods his head in the direction of the stairs. Reed nods and goes up while John stays down as the lookout. He spent at least three hours downstairs thinking about Clarice and how Marcos and Lorna's interrogation was going. He browsed the shop to staying away from the windows but he looked at all of the antics.

Then his senses picked up multiple vehicles coming this way he races up the steps and to the room that Reed and Otto were sitting in. "Reed! There's cars outside. I think it's Sentinel Services." John says. Both men stand while John edges toward the window. Just as he thought, it is Sentinel Services and they have Pulse with them. John can't feel his powers. "The mutant down there, that's my friend, the one they turned. He can suppress powers." John says.

"Is there another way out of here?" Reed asks.

"Only the stairs." Otto says.

John shakes his head, "No, we can't fight our way out, not with Pulse down there. They can cut me down same as you."

"I'll go down." Otto says.

Reed shakes his head, "You can't."

"Maybe I can do something. I told you, our family is different. I'm sorry, Reed. For everything. Tell your mother, will you? Take care of Lauren and Andy. Protect them, son. Protect the world from them." With that Otto gives Reed a final hug then quickly leaves the and heads downstairs.

John and Reed head into the hallway quietly and wait. Reed tries to get closer he whispers, "We have to go down there." John shakes his head and whispers back, "We can't. It's suicide. Reed, we have people depending on us. The station. Your kids." They hear some commotion. Reed asks, "What's happening?" John shakes his head. "I don't know, I-" He gasps.

-gunshots-

"No. No. No!" Reed says as he tries to get passed John to get downstairs. An explosion goes off and it knocks them both to the floor. When they get up John is holding his head with heavy breaths. Reed goes to the wind to see them leaving.

"Come on!" John says and they both race downstairs to find Otto on the floor with two bullet holes in his chest. Reed stays with his Dad and John goes outside to see Pulse on the ground. "Gus?" He says.

"Sorry." Gus says but it's weak.

"I am to, brother. I'm gonna make them pay for what they did to you." Gus grips his old friends hand for a few seconds before it goes limp. Pulse is gone, John closes his eyes.

"We should go." Reed says. John nods as the both hear sirens in the distance. John grabs Gus and gets him in the car he helps Reed get his father and they take off out of town to find a proper place to bury them.

* * *

_Back at the Underground HQ..._

Clarice makes her way outside seeing that Sonia had gone out that way a few hours ago. "Those, don't look so good." She says and Sonia turns around from 'gardening'. "Look about what I said before-" Clarice starts, but Sonia cuts her off. "No, you were right I shouldn't have done what I did. And once it was done I should have told you. It wasn't fair to keep using you like that, war or not." Clarice nods, "I need a favor. And you're the only one that can help."

"What is it?" Sonia asks. "There's a new kid that came in. A refugee. She had the same foster parents as me. When I got sick and my portals went crazy, I kept trying to portal back there, and that's how they found them. She watched them die, and now she can't stop dreaming about it. It's all my fault. I can't take those memories away from her. But you can." Clarice says. "Okay." Sonia says and they both head back inside.

Norah is in the same place that Clarice left her with Zingo at her side. After they explain what they are about to do and ask. Norah gives them a nod and Sonia does her thing. Pink smoke swirls around Norah and soon the memory is gone, and Sonia replaced it with a happier ending. Once it's done she leaves and Clarice walks Norah back up to that couch with Zingo right behind them. Sonia come by with a bowl of Mac 'n' Cheese handing it to her. After Norah eats Clarice takes the bowl and wraps the blanket around the young mutant. She then takes the bowl back to the eating area and gives Sonia a nod before she leaves.

* * *

_Just outside of Georgia..._

John and Reed have just finished digging holes for both Gus and Otto. They place them both in gently and then cover them up. Reed places a photo of him and his family on Otto's and John sprinkles some more dirt on Gus's they sit there in silence for a while then they get back on the rode heading home.

Once they get back to the Mutant Underground they go their separate ways, Reed to his family and John is going up, but he stops when he senses Sonia moving around in his room he shakes his head he does not have time for this. So, he goes to Clarice rather than up to deal with Sonia.

"John? What are you doing here?" Clarice asks as she sits on her bed. "I um." For the second time the fearless leader is lost for words. Clarice sees his face better and instantly gets up and gives him a hug. "Talk to me John." Clarice says and releases him but holds his hand sand leads him to her bed. She sits and so does he. "We found Reed's dad and then Sentinel Services came with Pulse and the shot Reed's dad who turned out to be a mutant and Pulse got caught in the blast and they just left him there like he was nothing." Clarice hugs him again. "John I'm sorry I know you wanted to try and help him." John nods into her shoulder.

"I can't stop thinking that if I had just grabbed him when we rescued Lorna and Reed maybe he would be here." John says. "John, we don't know what could've happened. It was too risky and what if he had a tracker in him? You did the right thing John, don't let the guilt take hold like I have." Clarice says as she rubs his back. "Thank you." John says as he pulls back but keeps his arms around her. "For what?" She asks. "You know for what Clarice." John says. She blushes and looks down.

John lifts her chin up to look her in the eyes then he leans in, at the last second, she turns away he kisses her cheek. "I think it might be too soon." She says. John nods, "Your right." He's about to get up. "Let's take this one day at a time, I don't want to rush this." Clarice says. He smiles. "Sure." She smiles back. "Come on you hide in here tonight." John chuckles and they lay side by side on her bed and fall asleep tired from their long day. They don't notice a blue-eyed mutant watching them.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 OutfoXed

The following morning Clarice wakes up with an arm wrapped around her. She smiles knowing that it's John. She was so shocked that he had chosen to come to her, Clarice thought all he cared about was Sonia and the Underground, but not her. Well, last night made something's clearer.

1) John still cares for her (but how much)? Clarice still wasn't sure.

2) She's not running from her problems anymore. No, she's here to stay and fight.

Clarice slowly moves his arm off her so she can sit up. She nearly steps on Zingo in the process, she looks over her shoulder to see if John is still sleeping she lets out a sigh of relief. Then her eyes widen as she feels his arm wrap around her stomach. John sits up as well with a smile on his face.

"Good morning." He says his voice is a bit gruff, but water will fix that. "Hey." She reply's back. "You weren't planning on walking out of here without me, were you?" He asks. "Yeah, I actually was." She removes his arm from her stomach and gets up. "I missed your snarky remarks." John says as he, too gets up. "I'm sure you did. Now if you will leave so I can go take a shower. I'll meet you in mess." John nods. "I'll be waiting." He says then kisses her on the cheek before leaving.

Clarice stands stunned for a few seconds before a small smile appears. With a roll of her green eyes she grabs her clothes and towel heading out of her room and too the showers. Zingo follows and stands watch as she cleans herself up thought the water isn't super-hot she doesn't mind just as long as she clean. After that's finished she dries off and puts her clothes on for the day. She brushes out the few tangles in her purple hair then sets off to the mess.

She then realizes that she beat John there shaking her head she grabs some fruit, a small bowl of oatmeal and coffee. After a few minutes John comes in with Lauren and Andy in tow he mods to the Strucker kids. Clarice waves as the sibling as they pass by. John takes a seat in front of her. She looks at him as he eats she notices that his hair is slightly still damp from his shower, fine to her he looks good.

"How are you after what happen?" John stops eating. "Pulse, was my brother. I should have gone back to look for him all those years ago. What happened to him, being turned into one the Hounds. I'm not fine with it." Clarice nods and takes a sip of her coffee. "Well, at least your being honest with me for once." John raises a playful brow. "And I haven't been before?" Clarice shakes her head. "Nope." John chuckles. Clarice then notices that he's focused. "What's wrong?" John gets up as does she. "Lorna, Marcos and Sonia are trying to calm Esme down." They put their dirty dishes in the sink and head downstairs to the vault together.

They find Sage and Sonia near the couch one is sitting the other is standing. Marcos sits on a desk while Lorna leans against the vault door they come in at the tail end of Esme's rant.

"We need to go after the Trask lab now. We have to rescue those people-"

She's cut off. "Have to? You're pretty new here to be telling people what they have to do." Lorna says as she walks passed the blonde and to Marcos.

"You don't get it! My family is in there. They're running out of time." Esme says as she walks over to Lorna.

"Okay, well, slow down." Marcos says as he puts a hand up to stop her from getting any closer.

"You got all that information from the woman they sent after us?" John asks.

"Yes. I mean, her mind was hard to read. Confused. But I got enough. The mutants in that lab, they were desperate. I-I could hear the screams. I could see the bodies. I could feel the agony when they turned that woman into that thing. And it's all happening in that building." Esme says.

"We know where this place is?" Clarice asks.

"I'm assembling a site map now." Sage says with a nod.

"So, why are we standing here?" Esme asks frustrated.

"Did you get anything on their security?" Sonia asks calmly.

Esme shakes her head. "No. It Her mind was too cloudy, but what does it matter? We are the last hope those prisoners have." She turns to John and walks closer. "You saw what they did to your friend. We sit on our hands, and that happens to more people."

"No one is sitting on their hands." Marcos says and stands up. "Now, we will make a move on that lab, but if we go in blind we die."

John nods and leaves the room Clarice goes to follow him, but is stopped by Lorna.

"Give him a minute." She says.

Clarice nods and looks at Esme. "Way to make a guy feel like crap." Esme opens her mouth then closes it. Clarice rolls her eyes and walks away.

As she walks up the stairs she sees Sonia go in the direction that John had gone in. She shakes her head and goes to the mess to get some water.

John stands in his office with his palms resting on the table. He knows who it is before she speaks. "Johnny, are you alright?" Sonia asks. He sighs. "How can I be "all right?" Maybe Esme has a point." He says as he turns around and sits on his desk. "But she's just a scared kid, who has no idea what she's talking about." Sonia says as she gets closer. "She was right about one thing. Pulse. I left him behind and they took him to that lab." Sonia shakes her head.

"That's not on you, Johnny. And continuing to blame yourself is not doing anybody any good. Besides, d-don't you think it's strange that she knew about Pulse? I mean, she just got here." John shrugs. "She's a telepath, Sonya. Maybe she picked it up off of me. It doesn't change the fact that I gave up on my friend and they turned him into a monster. I'll be damned if I'm gonna let that happen to anybody else." With that John gets up and moves around Sonia to the door. But his too emotional to notice Esme who had been watching them this whole time.

A few hours later Sage calls them all back. "I've been looking into the Trask lab. This place is out in the middle of nowhere. There is no information on it. But there is this." She types on her keypad and a picture shows up.

"A bar? What good does that do us?" John asks his arms crossed.

"I cross-referenced credit card activity with places near the lab, and this place is popular with Trask employees." Sage says.

"I could go in. Pull some information out of a guard or an operations person." Dreamer says as she leans against a bar. John nods.

"That's a good idea. I'll go for protection." Marcos says.

"No, I will." Lorna says as she steps out from behind Marcos.

"Are you sure, babe? I mean, you haven't really been sleeping well." Marcos says.

Lorna nods to him. "I'm okay." She walks over to Sonia. "Marcos, if you want to get information from a guy at a bar, you don't send a girl and another guy. We'll be fine." She smiles and so does Sonia. Marcos finally gives in with a nod.

Sonia and Lorna leave after a couple hours heading to the bar. John has been in his office the whole time after they left. He was going over the landscape of the area. Once Lorna and Sonia get back it's nightfall and they decide to go over the plan in the morning. John stays up in his office with the new information that they gave him trying to figure out how to take out the Trask Lab and save the mutants without having any difficulty. He was so focused he didn't even hear her come in.

"You're doing it again." He looks up to see Clarice leaning against the doorframe. "Doing what?" He asks putting his pen down. "You know, when your so focused at the task at hand you forget what time it is." Clarice says as she takes a seat in the chair in front of him. John looks at his watch it's nearly 4a.m. "I'm not always like this." Clarice stands up and shakes her head. "Yeah, keep telling yourself that." John stands up too. "Why aren't you asleep?" He asks as he rounds the desk. "Zingo needed to go out. I saw your lights still own I thought you fell asleep in here." Clarice says with a simple shrug.

"Right, well let's go." John says as he moves pass her and out the door. "Hold on, you're not sleeping in my space." John stops and turns around. "Why not?" Clarice turns the light out in his office and walks over to him. "Because, now is not the time. I would distract you from getting your plan in order. Plus, I could to without having Sonia glaring at me all the time." John shakes his head. "Alright. Well goodnight Clarice." He heads off to his room. "I think you mean good morning fearless." With that she walks downstairs and settles in her space and goes back to sleep.

_**That morning...** _

Everyone, but the Strucker family meets upstairs in the 'lounge area.'

"Sonia and I have been going through the memories she got from that guard and it does not look good." Marcos says.

"What are we up against?" John asks as he walks over by the chair that Sonia is sitting in.

"Well, the lab is hardened against mutant attack. They have motion and infrared sensors connected to heavy-caliber guns that are mounted all over their building." Sonia says.

"Guns? I can handle guns." Lorna says from her spot on the table.

"I know, but it is way too dangerous when there's this many, at this range." Marcos says. Lorna rolls her eyes, but she knows he's right.

"Clarice, can you get us past their defenses?" John asks.

She shakes her head. "No. It's too far. I don't know the first thing about the inside of that place." John nods Clarice continues, "I could blink us into the middle of a concrete wall."

"Well, there has to be something." Esme says her arms crossed. Clarice goes to sit on the arm of the chair Sonia sits in.

"I did find one vulnerability. There is a power substation a few miles away. If we took it out, we could get into the lab before their systems came back on line." Sage says.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Esme asks.

"We don't have enough heavy hitters to attack both places at once. And we're checking with the other stations now." Marcos says.

"Well, how long is that gonna take, because my family-" Esme's anxious comment is cut off.

"Esme." John says.

"Listen I understand." Marcos says.

"Esme. Believe me. This means as much to me as it does to you. But we are gonna get one shot at this. We can't miss." John says. Esme thinks about it for a second, then she looks back at Marcos who nods. Then back a John her face serious then she walks away.

A few hours later everyone including the Struckers meet downstairs across from the monitor room.

"We need you to do the same thing to the substation transformers that you did to the prison convoy bus. We know it's a lot to ask, but now we just don't see another way." Marcos says.

"Look, we want to help, but why does it need to be Lauren and Andy?" Reed asks as he gestures to his kids.

Marcos shrugs, "Well, because we need everyone else with combat powers to assault the lab. Now, we think that we can take down that power substation without putting them at any risk."

"So, exploding high voltage transformers is the safe job?" Caitlin says from her spot on the couch.

"In this case, yes." Lorna says from her chair.

"Sage hacked the security cameras. The station only has a handful of guards. Clarice will get everyone in. Sonia will guide them." Marcos says while Clarice and Sonia nod to one another.

"We've been through every option. This is the only one that works." John says.

"I'm down." Andy says from his couch seat.

"Let's do it." Lauren says.

Caitlin nods looking at her husband.

"Okay. But Caitlin and I need to be the ones monitoring the security." Reed says.

"If our kids are there, we are, too." Caitlin says.

Lorna nods. "Look, Sage will set you up, show you what to do." They nod.

"All right, everybody get ready. We move out in an hour." John says. Everyone moves to go do what they need to before heading out. No one noticed the satisfied look on Esme's face as they left.

Clarice goes back to her space to find Zingo on her bed with her toy. "Well, you made yourself look comfortable." she sits on her bed with her. She brushes her hair out a bit then gets up to grab the ring from her small table. She slips it on then back off. There and knock at her doorframe. She looks to see John.

"Hey." She says. He walks in and gives her a set of keys. "So, these are for the van you'll be driving to the station." Clarice nods and puts the keys in her pocket. "Are you okay?" She asks. "Yeah, I just." He trails off then glances at the ring in her hand. "Here." She hands it to him. "Why are you giving me this?" He asks taking the ring. "Well I don't want to lose it and I think you can keep it safe until I get back." Clarice says with a smile. John nods putting it in his pants pocket. Then he hugs her. "Hey, I'll be back. We all will." Clarice says. "I know." John says as he releases her slowly. Clarice with her arms still wrapped around his neck gives him a kiss on the cheek. "I gotta go. We'll see each other later." She releases him giving Zingo a gentle rub before she heads out. John sighs and then he feels Zingo nudge his leg. "I know she will be fine." He pats her on the head then heads out too.

He meets up Marcos, Lorna and Esme upstairs. Having put everything that they needed in the cars they head out Esme rides with John while Lorna and Marcos ride in the other. Once they reach the spot they park and get out.

"All right, this is it. Gate's up there." Marcos says as he hands John another bag before sling one over his shoulder.

"We'll go check it out, see what we're dealing with." John says.

"Sounds good. We'll get the party favors." Lorna says.

John and Marcos head out and up the small hill they set their bags down.

"That is a long stroll from the fence to the building." Marcos says. "Well, we knew it wouldn't be easy." John says. "Yeah. Says the bulletproof guy." Marcos says as he pulls out a tiny pair of binoculars. "This would have been so much easier if we had Pulse with us." John says. "Yeah." Marcos agrees. "He could've taken out every automated gun in that place." John continues. "Course, we'd be hearing tales of his awesomeness for months." Marcos says as he turns around and sits next to John. "Yeah. I miss him." John says as he looks at the ground. "Yeah, me, too. But John, you weren't the only person that left him there that night. That's on all of us, not just you. And today, we get to make it up to him." Marcos says and John nods. Then his phone goes off he opens it and answers. "Were in place."

_**Meanwhile a few miles away from the power substation...** _

"Copy that. We're en route. We're almost at the power substation. Okay, be safe out there." Reed hangs up.

"What we're doing here, it's a parent's worst nightmare." Caitlin says.

"We can handle-" Andy is cut off.

"Andy, we know. We know you can. We're doing this because we trust you." Caitlin says.

"Hey, Struckers, heads up. We're here." Clarice says as she hits the breaks. Then she moves toward the back of the van. Reed dials Sage.

"Yeah." Sage says. "We're ready." Reed says. "Okay. Bypassing firewall. And you should have picture in three, two, one." Sage says and the laptop screen show the inside. "Okay. It's working." Reed says. "I looped the camera feeds so security won't see our team. But they'll notice eventually, so be quick." Sage says then the call ends.

"Okay, guys. I'm gonna need some room here, kid." Clarice says as she starts to open up a portal.

"Uh, yeah." Andy says and moves out of her way. "Bye Mom."

"Okay." Caitlin nods.

"We got this." Lauren says.

"Um, guys? It's a little trickier than holding an elevator. Can we hurry this up please?" The Struckers look over at Clarice to see that she's trying to keep the portal open for as long as she can. Andy goes through first, then Lauren, and Sonia. Clarice closes the portal. Following Sonia, they open a gate and get inside.

"Hey. Can you hear me okay? We made it inside." Sonia says into the earpiece.

"We can hear you just fine." Caitlin says.

"All right, we're going in." Sonia says. And the four walk down the hall.

"Hold on. There are some workers in the hallway in front of you." Reed says.

Sonia and the rest stop and wait. Clarice faces away from the door.

"Okay Okay, you're clear." Caitlin says.

Sonia opens the door and they wait Sonia looks left and then right.

"Sure, you know where you're going?" Lauren asks.

"Um, pretty sure. The guard I borrowed the memory from had only been here a few times, so it's a little hazy." Then she turns to the left.

"The transformer we need to take out is in the middle of the building." Clarice says as they conitue to walk.

"So why didn't you just portal us there?" Andy asks.

"Hold up, there's a conference room on your right." Caitlin says.

They stop.

"Can you make a portal through a hundred walls into a room you've never seen before and land safely next to a high-voltage transformer?" Clarice asks.

"Okay your clear." Caitlin says. They move.

"No." Andy says.

"Yeah. Neither can I." Clarice says.

"Incoming, door to your left." Reed says.

They stop and just as Reed said a guard comes through the door.

"What are you doing here?" The guard asks. "Oh, did they not call? From the front desk?" Sonia asks. "No, I didn't get a call. Hang on just a sec." The guard says as he reaches for his walkie. "Come on you remember me." Sonia says then she breathes pink smoke in his face. "Or maybe you don't remember." Sonia says the guard looks at her then at Clarice and the Strucker kids.

He pulls out his gun and takes his walkie off his shoulder and walks close to them. Lauren looks ready to make a shield. But they have nothing to worry about the guard places both in the trashcan and walks way.

"Nice job Sonia." Reed says and they continue on their way.

_**Meanwhile outside of the Trask lab...** _

"All right, remember, once the Struckers take down the transformer at the power station, we only have three minutes to get the charges up by the automated guns and get inside of Trask." John says as they finish up.

"Don't forget about the part where if we're off by a few seconds, we all get slaughtered." Marcos says without thinking. "Marcos, not helpful." Lorna says. "I'm sorry, it's just, look, once we get in there, we don't know what we're doing or where we're going." Marcos says. "Well, that's why she's here." Lorna says as she gestures to Esme.

"First, we free the prisoners. Then we destroy the mainframes and the research." Esme says.

"Yeah, right. So, these prisoners how do you know they're gonna help us?" Marcos asks.

"Believe me, they'll help." Esme says.

_**Back at the power station...** _

"Okay, uh, the next few hallways seem clear." Reed says.

"Got it. Thanks." Dreamer says. They continue on and have no problem with employees or other staff until...

"Sonia, get out of there. Get out of there now!" Caitlin yells. "Get out of there!"

"Wait, I don't understand. What's going on?" Sonia asks and they all stop.

"Reed. Look!" Caitlin says.

"There is a Sentinel robot and arms teams in the building! Get out of there now!" Reed says.

"We got to go. Now." Sonia says. "What the hell is going on?" Clarice asks. "What about the power transformer?" Clarice asks as they run. "There's no time! Clarice, you gotta get us out." Sonia says. "I don't even know where we are in this building. I don't know which direction. The-the, there's too many hallways, I don't know." Clarice says as she trys to make a portal turning every which way to find a good direction.

"Hurry please!" Lauren says.

"I-I-I know, I'm trying. Okay. Okay, I got it!" Clarice says as she gets the portal opened half way.

"Guys! Guys! Hey, guys, guys!" Andy says and points to the Sentinel spider robot that just appeared.

"Andy!" Lauren says.

"Uh, yeah, m-move, move. Move!" Andy says and then taps into his TK and tries to shatter the robot, but he misses and rips open some piping. Clarice tries to make another portal, but there's no time.

"Run!" She says. They do but Clarice gets hit in the back by the spider. She falls to the ground it towers over her.

"Clarice! No!" Sonia says and starts to come back.

"Go! Go!" Clarice says and the trio run leaving her behind. It's not long before the Sentinel Agents come in a place a collar around her neck. Then take her to the van. _Sorry John._ She thinks as the doors close behind her. She only hopes that Sonia and the Struckers made it out. Not long after the van doors open and in come the Strucker kids and Sonia. This did not go like they planned.

_**Meanwhile at the Trask Lab...** _

Sirens were wailing and more agents were gathering around the lab.

"Hijo de perra. What happened? Did somebody see us?" Marcos asks. John listens to what the few agents are saying.

"We're on full lockdown!"

"Mutants tried to hit the power station."

"Sentinel Services caught 'em, said we might be next."

"No, they're not coming for us. We got to go. Operation's blown. Come on!" John says as they start to move. "What? What? No. No, we-we can't go, we have to get in there!" Esme says. "That's it. They have our team at the substation." John says as he comes back. "No, I'm not leaving!" Esme says. Marcos comes back to grab the bag. "Were going!" John says as he firmly, but gently grabs her arm. "Come on, it's over!" He starts pulling. "No! No, please, my family! Don't make me leave them behind!" Esme exclaims. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Come on." John says then he picks her up and carries her away. "NO! NO!" Esme screams as John takes her away once they reach the cars John quickly places Esme in the passenger seat the jumps in the drivers and they race back to Headquarters.


	15. Reliving of the past PT 3

Chapter 15 Reliving the past PT 3

Everyone meets upstairs after finding out that Sonia, Clarice and the Strucker kids had been taken by Sentinel Services.

"Okay, well, I say we go now, since everyone's still in holding. I mean, Reed and I were locked up in there together. We know the whole layout." Lorna starts once everyone is there.

"You want to hit Sentinel Services? Are you crazy?" Reed says.

Lorna puts a hand out. "Don't, call me crazy."

"Okay, everyone take it easy." Marcos says trying to calm everyone down.

"She wants to launch an attack on the heels of what we just went through, with no way in. Which part of that doesn't sound crazy to you?" Reed asks.

"Hey." Marcos says

"Okay, do I have to remind you that it's not just our people that are in there? They have your kids, too." Lorna says.

"We saw men with guns cart away our kids while they cried for our help, so, no, you sure as hell don't." Caitlin says.

"I'm not agreeing on a plan that puts them in more danger." Reed says. They all start shouting at once and they aren't getting anywhere.

John who has been quiet this whole time has had it. He smashes his fist on part of the table breaking a good piece off it. "That's enough! There is no more "yours" or "ours." Andy and Lauren Sonia and Clarice. They're all our people now." He says.

"Turning their jail cells into a shooting gallery hurts everyone." Reed says. "Maybe. But it's just a matter of time before Campbell gets his hands on them and turns them into Hounds. If that happens, this place is finished. It might already be finished." Lorna says doubtfully looking at the ground. "There are people we can talk to." Reed insists. "What, we write our congressman and hope for the best? If we have to shed blood sooner or later, I vote for sooner." Lorna says.

"That's our blood you're talking about. Some of us almost died the last time we tried something like this." Caitlin says. And John looks over at Harry who stands with a cane among them.

"I know people in the courts, the government, even Sentinel Services." Reed tries again.

"Last time you tried that, we almost got killed." Lorna says.

"Okay, it was your "low risk" assault that got us into this situation." Caitlin says

"Look, guys! The enemy is not in this room. We're all in this together. And we should set up some scouts at Sentinel Services and Trask. Maybe they can get eyes on our people." Marcos suggests.

"Marcos is right We can send out Sage and Shatter. And also check in with our police contacts. We are gonna fight to get everyone home. But we need to remember, we're on the same side." John says.

Everyone agrees with that though they are not happy that they have to wait. They dismiss and find something to do until they have more information. John heads downstairs and towards the doors, but stops he sees Zingo heading in the direction of Clarice's space. He follows and once he's in the space Zingo is sitting on Clarice's bed her head down she whimpers.

John goes to sit next to her and starts rubbing her back. "We will get her back. All of them." He then pulls the ring out of his pocket and looks at it. The plain sliver band. The promise ring that he had given her four years ago. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. Zingo moves her head over to his lap feeling his need to be comforted. John stays in the room for a while before going to do what he had plan to do and take out some of his frustration on some old trees.

_**Meanwhile in the Sentinel Services interrogation room...** _

"You expect us to believe you were looking for a bathroom?" Weeks asks. "Hey, when you got to go, you got to go." Clarice says with a shrug. "You think you're going to escape, like last time? You got lucky once, won't happen again." Weeks says, "Actually, luck had nothing to do with it. I made you guys look like idiots. It's a pretty good skill." Clarice simply says. "I'm glad to see your self-esteem is still healthy after all this. Look, you want to make a deal, now is the moment. You won't like the next stop on this train." Weeks tries to get something out of her. "As long as it's not here with you, it's starting to sound pretty damn good." Clarice says not taking the bait. "I can promise you it won't be here with me. We know why you were at the power station. We know why you were going to the lab. We just want to know what you were looking for." Weeks says. Clarice shakes her head not giving up anything.

Not long after that the four of them are being loaded into a van. After a long ride it stops right in front of Trask Industries. Lauren and Andy are taken in the opposite direction of Clarice and Sonia. There clothes are removed and placed in gray prison uniforms. Not long after Sonia and Clarice are placed in their holding cells.

"What do you think they did to Lauren and Andy?" Sonia asks from her corner spot on the floor. "I don't know, I just I just hope they're okay." Clarice says as she leans her head on the bars. "A long time ago, before. Anyone knew I was a mutant, I used to volunteer at this place, a shelter for battered women. They'd been through such. Terrible things. Sometimes I'd secretly use my powers on them. Pull their worst memories from their minds. I wish I could make all of us forget this." Sonia says her eyes closed.

"You can't think like that. Do you know how scared I was when I was in the mutant detention center? I was shaking so hard that when I had a chance to escape, I almost portaled myself into the middle of a ten-lane freeway. But I got out." Clarice tries to encourage her as she gets down to her level. "But this feels. Impossible." Sonia says softly as a single tear slides down her face. "It's not. It's not impossible. It's only impossible if you give up. John he lov-" Clarice is cut off. "No, he doesn't. He never did. Not like that anyway." Sonia says shaking her head.

"I find that hard to believe." Clarice says. "I did what I did to you, to him." Sonia says. "How could you do that?" Clarice asks her jade eyes fuming. "I wanted to be with him. But no matter how hard I pushed. His love for you and getting you back kept winning. So, I gave up, but that didn't stop me from wanting to be near him. He's an amazingly nice guy." Sonia says. "He is. But if I'm being honest I thought he would forget about me." Clarice says looking at the ground. "He never did. Clarice, he loves you. He may not show it at times, but he does." Sonia says. Clarice gives a small sad smile. "I guess so."

"How did you get to Georgia anyway?" Sonia asks. Clarice faces away from her and leans her back against the bars. "That's a long story." Sonia shrugs. "Well, we have some time."

_Flashback three years ago..._

" _So where to now?" Gambit asks. Once they get in the car._

" _Umm, how about Phoenix, Arizona?" Clarice asks._

" _Dats almost a 12-hour drive." Gambit says._

" _So, what? Auntie C made sure that Auntie O and I got to safety. We owe this to her." Evan says._

" _He's right." Storm says. "Now, Remy if you don't want to come we can drop you off at the airport."_

" _Non, I'll stay. Be'ides ya may need ol' Gambit's help." Remy says._

_Clarice rolls her eyes "Great."_

" _Ya know ya love me petite." Gambit says with a wink._

" _Then it is settled. We leave now." Ororo says as she starts the car. They head out on route to Phoenix._

_Half-way through the drive they stop at low-end hotel to rest up. The next morning, they are back on route with Gambit behind the wheel. When they arrive in Phoenix just after nightfall Clarice takes the wheel turning down the familiar old road. To the abandoned apartment that they once lived in. Clarice cuts the engine as soon as they pull up in the back. They all get out as Clarice opens the backdoor. What she saw she should have expected._

_The bullet holes from that night still in the walls, one of the walls dented knowing that either John or someone else had been thrown against it. She also saw a mutant family now taking residency there. Her jade eyes widen as she noticed the little girl with a huge gash on her arm. Immediately she rushed over with her bag and pulled out a wrap and some alcohol wipes. The mother wanting to protect her child raised her hand up lifting a heavy piece of concrete and hurtled it at Clarice. Storm used the winds to catch it and gently place it on the ground._

" _We don't want to hurt you, we just want to help." Storm says her blue eyes still frosted white. When the family understands they go back to normal. Clarice starts working the little girl winces at the pain._

" _It needs to be stitched up, but I can't do it." Clarice says. Storm walks over and places her hand on her shoulder._

" _It's alright, I can. Rest for a moment Clarice, you have done enough." Ororo says and gets to work stitching up the wound. Clarice walks over towards Gambit and takes a seat next to him on the old couch._

" _Why, did ya really want to come h're chere?" Remy asks as he shuffles a deck of cards. "I just wanted to know if my boyfriend would be here." Clarice says. "Don't ya mean fiancé?" He gestures to the ring on her left hand. "He did ask that yet. We weren't even a year into our relationship. It's more of a promise ring." Clarice says as she fiddles with it. "Well, since he's not h're, w'ere do you dink he would go?" Gambit asks. "East coast. Either New York or Georgia. He always did have a backup plan." Clarice says with a small smile. "Why don't ya give 'em a call? Just tah be sure." Gambit suggests. "No, I've been gone way to long, he would have ditched his burner a long time ago and got another one." Clarice says._

" _Well den its settled." He gets up just as Storm and Evan come over. "Stormy w're going to New York." He says._

" _New York? What for?" Ororo asks._

" _Need dare be a reason? Long story short, petite needs to find her man and she dinks he's dare." Remy says as he puts his deck of card back in his trench coat pocket._

" _Ro, you don't have too. You've already done enough for me." Clarice says._

" _After all we've been through you think you're going to get rid of me that easily?" Storm says with a smirk._

" _Yeah, your right it would be pretty boring without having you zap me in your sleep." Clarice says with a wink._

_Gambit chuckles. "Allons!" As they start to move towards the door Storm stops and walks over to the mom. She hands her the keys to her car._

" _Here, you need this more than we do." She says then looks at Gambit. He comes over and pulls out two fistfuls of $20's and places them on the table._

" _You don't have to do this." The mother says._

" _Your right, but we want to." Clarice says._

" _Thank you so much." The mother says._

" _If you plan on going out of town stick to the back roads. And either drive at dawn or at night. It's much safer for you and your family." Clarice says._

_The mother nods, after they grab their stuff out of the car, Gambit pulls out his phone and makes a call._

" _Our ride will be h're shortly." He says. He was right after 10 minutes a black Jeep pulls up and they piled in. Gambit in the front, Clarice and Ororo on the sides with Evan in the middle._

" _I've never been to New York." Evan says._

" _I'm glad you're going to see it homme." Gambit says and ruffles his blond hair._

_They ride to the airport, but take a detour as the jeep takes them to a private jet, or rather Gambit's private jet. Once they are all buckled in the plane takes off and it's a few hours before they are in landing in JFK. Grabbing their few bags they exit the plane and a stretch limo waits for them. Ironically with all of their names on it, or rather the drivers sign._

_Ororo gets in first then everyone else. They relax a little as the limo starts to move._

" _So, where are we going to stay?" Clarice asks._

" _I know a place in Westchester." Storm says. Clarice simply nods._

" _Stormy do day know qui are?" Remy asks._

" _I haven't told them yet, but now is a good time before Charles does it for me." Storm looks at Clarice and Evan. "Clarice, Evan. Gambit and I are part of a special team that's main focus is helping mutants and people live together peacefully." She pauses for a moment. "We are X-Men."_

_Clarice's jade eyes widen. "So, it's true? All the stories I've heard, are real?"_

" _All of them." Storm says as they arrive at a huge mansion. "Come on, I'll show you where you will be staying." They all get out with their stuff and head inside. They are greeted by a bald man in a wheelchair, a redhead, and a short man with grey eyes._

" _Ororo, it's good to see you." The man in the wheelchair says._

" _I wish I could say the same, Charles." The wind rider says._

" _Ororo." The redhead says a bright smile on her face._

" _Jean." She nods then begins to walk off._

" _Not even a hel'o for me?" The shorts man asks._

" _I was trying not to, but hi Logan. Happy?" Storm asks._

_He grunts and places he arm around Jean. Clarice notices the pained look on Ororo's face but it's not the time. Evan hides behind Clarice._

" _It is alright, child we mean you know harm." Charles says. Evan's eyes widen._

" _Charles, Jean get out of their heads. Come on I'll show you where you will be staying." Storm says as she leads them up the stairs to the second floor. Storm opens the door to a bedroom with a walk-in closet and bathroom. It has a single bed, with a TV and nightstand. "Do you like it Clarice?" Ororo asks._

" _I'm happy as long as I have some sort of bed." Clarice says as she drops her bag on the floor._

" _Where am I gonna sleep?" Evan asks._

" _With me. Gambit you know where your room is?" Storm asks looking at her long-time friend._

" _Qui, I dink I'll go check on a certain southern belle." Gambit says with a wink. Then he leaves them alone._

" _Come with us, Clarice. I'll show you my room and then give you a tour." Leaving her room, they go up two flights of stairs to the attic and go in. Storm's room is way bigger than the Clarice had originally thought. After Evan puts he stuff down they begin the tour. Storm shows them the classrooms, the kitchen, the garage, the backyard, the danger room, with the last stop being her own greenhouse._

" _They didn't even try to take care of them." She murmers as she then makes a rain cloud and waters her plants. Evan stays closes to the green house as he plays giving Ororo and Clarice some time to talk._

" _So, I take it you're the only one with a green thumb around here?" Clarice asks as she examines an almost dead flower. "I suppose so." Ororo says as she moves to another flower. "So, what's the deal with you, Jean, and Logan?" Clarice asks as she takes a seat in an empty stool. "I fell in love him, but Jean has always had his eye. Even when she was with Scott, she would always try and pull him in." She sighs._

" _We used to be friends, sisters even, but once I told her how I felt about Logan. She made it her mission to distract him away from me." The rain cloud dissolves. "Logan and I had a connection, but she got in his head, literally and he never far from her side."_

" _Got in his head how?" Clarice asks. "Jean is a telepath." Storms says. "And he has know idea about it?" Clarice asks. "I guess not, since I had been taken, it seems like nothing has changed." Storm makes another cloud and continues to water her plants. "Well he's an ass if he doesn't realize how amazing you are." Clarice says. "It wouldn't make much of a difference. I was married once. And thought I would like to be again, I don't think that's what Logan wants." Storm says._

" _Well, he's stupid. I mean look at us we are exotic beauties. Rare, unique, he's missing out." Clarice says a wink when Ororo looks at her. "He is indeed. I just hope you don't find yourself in a similar situation with John." Ororo says. "Ro, he gave me a promise ring. He won't forget about me that easily." Clarice says. "I guess you're right. Come on let's go eat." They leave the greenhouse grab Evan and head to the kitchen to eat._

_Over the next three weeks Clarice would borrow Storm's baby blue Porsche to go and find any clues that would lead her to John. She realized that he might be in Georgia somewhere. And that's where she would have to go next. Sighing she drives back to the mansion. Pulling into the garage she cuts the engine and grabs her bag._

" _Trail gone cold?" She jumps then turns around to see Logan with a cigar in hand. "Yeah, I'm leaving first thing in the morning." Clarice says. "I'm sure Ro, and the kid will miss yuh." Logan says. "I know, but it's not like I'm leaving forever." Clarice says and walks away. Logan grunts._

" _Why do you do it?" She asks. "Do what?" Logan asks. "Play with Ro's emotions. It's cruel. She has a heart of gold and all you've done is step on it repeatedly." Clarice says. "I ain't into 'er like that." Logan says then takes a long drag of his cigar. "Well then take your flirty business with Jean and save it for your room or whatever." Clarice says. "It really ain't none of your business." Logan says. "I really hope you realize what your losing, she's quite the catch, but I guess you'll never know till someone else comes thundering in." Clarice says then heads up to her room to pack her stuff._

_She then proceeds upstairs to Storm's room and knocks._

" _No, luck today?" Ororo asks opening the door wider so she can come in. "Yeah, I'm actually going to be leaving tomorrow." Storm nods as both women sit on her bed. "I see, and where are you headed?" Ororo asks. "I'm heading to Georgia, that would be the next place he would go. I just hope I get there in time." Clarice says. "You will, if this John Proudstar is as amazing as you say then he's probably waiting for you." Storm says as she rubs her friends' shoulder. "Your right. Where's Evan?" She asks. "He's out with Colossus practicing with his spikes."_

" _Nice, well I guess I'll have to say goodbye to him tomorrow." Clarice says. "I can ask Gambit of he'll let you take his jet, that way you don't have to deal with as much people." Storm says. "That would be great. Thanks." Clarice says the gets up._

" _Come on, let's go eat." Storm says as they get up and leave her room to the kitchen. Ororo sees Gambit and pulls him to the side. Clarice grabs some leftovers out of the fridge and heats it up. Storm comes back after talking to Remy and they ate in comfortable silence then it was time for bed. Clarice was going to miss this place, but she knew that she needed to get back to John._

_The following morning, Clarice grabs all her gear and heads out. She finds Ororo, Evan and Gambut waiting for her at the entrance._

" _Hey everyone." Clarice says._

" _Auntie C do you really have to go?" Evan asks._

" _Yes, I have people that I need to find. I wish I could stay longer, but it wouldn't be fair to them." Clarice says._

" _Come on we'll take you to the jet." Ororo says as they all pile in the limo. It's a quiet ride to the airport, the whole way Evan stays wrapped to her side. Once they arrive Gambit grabs her bags and loads them on his jet. Ororo gives her a big hug._

" _Don't be a stranger, you know you can always come back if you need anything." Storm says._

" _I know, and I won't. Thanks for everything Ro." Clarice says._

" _You promise you'll come back someday?" Evan asks._

" _I promise." She hugs Evan one more time._

" _It's time for me to go. I promise once I settle in and everything I will give you a call." Clarice says._

" _Or you could just portal back." Ororo says. Clarice shakes her head the boards the jet. It takes her a few minutes to realize that Gambit is on the jet with her._

" _Did yah really think that Stormy would let yah make da trip alone?" Gambit says as he takes out a deck of cards and begins to shuffle them. "I was hoping so." Clarice said with a smirk. "Well, if you did den yah wouldn't have found dis." He hands her a small purse. "I can't take this." Clarice says as she hands it back. "Stormy would zap moi derrière if I didn't give yah dat." Remy says. "Fine, but this is it no more." Clarice says as she quickly puts the purse in her backpack making sure it's hidden from sight._

_The ride was short once the jet landed Gambit once again grabbed her bags and before he headed out he told the piolet to keep the engine running he would be back. Clarice followed him to a 1998 yellow Volvo wagon. "Dis is from moi, yah don't want to walk everyw'ere in dis state with all dat stuff. Dis is it I promise." Gambit holds his hands up. Clarice sighs then gives him a hug._

" _Take care of Ro, and Evan." Clarice says. Then she realises him and gets in the car. She waves then drives off her first stop to find a place to sleep in Athens. Starting the engine, she takes off._

_End of flashback..._

"So, that's it?" Sonia asks. "For now. Besides I get the fee-" She cut off as the guards open their cells.

"Get up. Dr. Campbell wants to see you." They come out not sure what is about to happen as the three guards lead them down the hall. Whatever it is it can't be good.


	16. EXploits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain character is not dead in this part, you'll know who when the time comes.

Chapter 16 EXploits

_**Meanwhile at the MU HQ...** _

Lorna, Marcos, and Esme go find John. He was actually headed upstairs to figure out some sort of plan to get everyone out.

"John, we gotta talk." Marcos says.

"What is it?" John asks.

"It's the Struckers." Lorna says with an eyeroll. They walked over towards one of the desks. "They didn't say anything." Lorna says.

"They just left?" John asks.

"Yeah, we checked the whole building. They took one of the cars. They're gone." Marcos says.

Esme rolls her eyes. "They had some idea about convincing Agent Turner to get everyone out of the lab, as if a lifetime spent behind bars is somehow better. They just don't get it. They're humans. Even if they succeed, and he moves them to a mutant detention center tonight, they're gone."

"Wait. If we really think that there's a chance, even a small one, that Agent Turner will move the prisoners tonight.." John says.

"We might be able to rescue them." Lorna finishes.

"That's still a big risk. I mean, the last time we hit them, they came back at us hard." Marcos says still not sure.

"All the more reason to hit back." Lorna simply says.

"Do you really think the Struckers can pull this off?" John asks.

Esme shrugs. "It's possible. Reed was a lawyer. I mean, he was one of them."

"We need a plan, though." Lorna says.

"Shatter's still scouting at Trask. He needs to know what might be coming." Marcos says. John nods.

_**Meanwhile back at Trask...** _

Clarice and Sonia come out of their cells and join the guards. Clarice has two holding her arms a good distance away from each other. While Sonia has one that has a firm grip on her arm. The guards walk them down a glass windowed hallway and then down another. They finally reach their destination and go through some white doors with some more Trask employees. They wait there.

"I think you will. You just need additional motivation." They hear Dr. Cambell say. They are motioned in. Once inside they stand behind the doctor and see a screen which shows Lauren and Andy in some weird one-piece get-up.

"What are you doing? They're not part of this!" Lauren says. As Andy stands up.

"Oh, you made them part of this." Dr. Cambell says.

"Leave 'em alone." Andy says.

"Whatever happens to them is entirely in your hands. Can I have your sidearm, please?" Cambell ask as he grabs the gun from the agent.

"No." Lauren says.

-Gun Cocks-

Clarice and Sonia exchange glances as they for now keep their eyes on the gun.

"It doesn't have to be difficult. Just show me what you can do." Cambells says

"Don't do anything for him." Sonia says looking at the siblings.

Campbell sighs. "Children, clasp hands."

Sonia shakes her head. "Don't do what he-" -Gun shot-

Cambell shoots Sonia in the chest just a few inches from her heart. He drops instantly her head hitting the ground hard a puff of pink smoke flows from her lips. Her eyes close blood slowly starts to flow from her chest and her head. The siblings are screaming

"Sonia! Sonia! No, no!" Clarice screams as she struggles against the guards holding her. She looks at the sibling to see Lauren frozen in shock.

"Is there a need for more bloodshed?" Cambell asks like nothing was wrong. "Is there?" The Strucker sibling don't speak. "HEY!" -Gun Cocks- "I'm losing patience!" He then points the gun at Clarice's head. She closes her eyes for a second and then opens them. "Lauren, Andrew face the sensors."

"Lauren. Lauren, hey." Andy says turning to his sister who is still in shock. "Lauren. Lauren, what do we do?" Andy asks shaking his sister's shoulders. She does not respond. "Come on." Andy says. Not that they can see, but Clarice shakes her head. _Don't do it._ She thinks.

Lauren and Andy face the sensors and clasps hands. Their hands start to glow as they face each other and then the sensors holding their opposite hands up. Their power flows from their clasps hands to the ones facing forwards. Dr. Cambell lowers the gun and walks over to the scientist.

"Sir, we're approaching the limits of our sensors."

"Unbelievable." Cambell says.

"We have to stop them." The tech says.

"The room is indestructible. Keep monitoring. It'll be fine." Campell says.

The scanners contiue to monitor, the beeping gets louder. Lauren sceams.

Then the wall starts to break the guards use Clarice as a shield as the pull her away from the area. Clarice's jade eyes widen as she looks at the sibling.

Lauren and Andy stop and take deep breaths. Clarice looks at the wall the back at the Strucker sibling. Then she looks down at Sonia who is still slowly bleeding still on the white floor.

"Turn the collars back on. Take the Struckers back to their cells. Oh, and give them something nice to eat. They've made a great contribution to science today." Cambell says.

Clarice and the Struckers are taken back to their cells. Once Clarice is in her cell she starts to cry. She ponds the glass then sinks to her feet. Shaking her head. _What am I going to tell, John? And Lorna?_

She doesn't have much time to think, because soon Sentinel Service agents come in and she along with the others get taken to a transport van.

Clarice finds the Struckers sitting near the back of the bus. She sits next to them in silence.

"Clarice-" Lauren starts.

"Now's not the time. We'll talk about it later." Clarice says.

Andy and Lauren nod. Clarice then notices two blonds that look exactly like Esme. And by exactly she means like to a T.

Before she can ask them, some questions the SS Agents two of them get on the van one in the driver's seat the other in front facing them. The engine starts.

_**Meanwhile back at MU HQ...** _

John shuts his phone and races up the second floor. "Hey! I just got word from Shatter. Sentinel Services is at Trask with a large transport vehicle." He says when he reaches Esme, Marcos and Lorna.

"The Struckers did it." Esme says.

"I'll be damned." Lorna says with a smile.

"All right. We don't have a lot of time. When they're moving, we're gonna be ready here and here." Marcos says as he points the spots on the map.

"Yeah, we surround them on the road, free the prisoners, and hightail it south to the interstate." Lorna says.

"And we're gonna have one or two minutes, tops. The guards coming from that lab are gonna be coming at us fast. They might have hounds." Marcos says.

"Send me in. If someone can get me close enough, I can scout security, read one of the guards. See what I can find out." Esme says.

"Okay. Let's do it." John says. They head towards the doors taking two cars with them. They wait in position. Shatter soon comes out of the tree line.

"Hey, what do you see?" Marcos asks.

"Two Sentinel Services SUVs, two sedans, and a transport vehicle. And they all rolled in pretty hot." Shatter says.

John squats on the ground he tracks the van. "They just left the building. They're gonna be at the gate soon."

"Are they all there?" Lorna asks.

"It's hard to be sure, it's a group." John says.

"All right, we go in now, find out what we can from the guard at the booth." Marcos says to Esme. "Come on. Stay close." He says as they disappear in the tree line.

_**In the transport van...** _

-Gun shots-

"No!" Lauren screams.

"Man, what are you doing?!" Andy asks.

"Wait. Wait!" Lauren says

-Gun shot-

-More gun shots outside the van-

-More gun shots-

-Explosion- Everyone sees as the car blows up in front of them.

"We need to get these collars off. Someone help me find the key. Come on!" Clarice says as she moves from her seat to one of the dead agents looking for the keys. Once she finds them one of the Esme look a-likes takes the keys removes her collar then gives them to the other look a-like. Then they toss the keys to Clarice with a smile that made Clarice's skin crawl. They leave.

-Multiple gun shots outside-

"They're killing them! They're killing them. They're killing everyone." Marcos says as he comes out of the tree line holding his stomach.

"Who is "they"?" Lorna asks.

Once everyone is off the bus Clarice then sees all the dead agents and then the Esme sisters.

"Time to go, boys and girls. The fun's just starting." The sisters say in unison. An explosion goes off behind them. Esme smirks.


	17. 3x1

Chapter 17 3X1

_Flashback two years ago (Clarice)_

_Athens, Georgia..._

_Clarice comes out of the town's movie theatre with Nate her boyfriend? She doesn't know he's rather clingy and that's not her thing._

" _So, basically, I'm gonna buy a horse._ _" Nate says with his arm loosely hanging on Clarice's shoulder._

" _I think you'd look great on a horse." Clarice says._

" _You think so?" Nate asks._

" _Yeah." She says as they continue to walk to her car._

" _So, admit it, coming into town wasn't all that bad." Nate says._

" _It wasn't so bad coming into town." Clarice says._

" _Mm." Nate says nodding his head._

" _But next time, I'm gonna pick the movie. Okay, one with less brooding and whining about one's feelings._ _" Clarice says as she takes her keys out of her purse._

" _I do have_ _Die Hard_ _on Blu-ray back at my place._ _" Nate says._

" _Oh." Clarice says as she unlocks her car, they are about ten paces away._

" _You could come over." Nate says giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze._

" _I have to work tomorrow morning. Those dishes aren't gonna bus themselves._ _" Clarice said shaking her head._

" _So, bring a toothbrush and some clothes._ _" Nate says with a shrug._

" _And turn it into a regular thing? No. I know exactly what you're doing._ _" Clarice says six paces away from her car._

" _What?" Nate asks._

" _You're trying to make me pay half your ridiculous rent._ _" Clarice says two paces away._

" _That's not true." Nate says though not very convincing_

" _I'm not gonna fall for it." Clarice says then stops when she notices men in black jackets with white crosses on them._

" _Oh, my God. Are those?" Nate asks._

" _Purifiers." Clarice says her jade eyes scan the man near her car._

" _We should go." Nate says quietly. One of the Purifiers starts spelling Mutant on her car in spray paint._

" _Hey, what the hell are you doing to my car!?" Clarice asks as she takes a step forward._

" _Stop it." Nate says pulling her back._

" _One of us saw you walk into the movies a couple hours ago. You got no business being out among innocent humans._ _" One of the Purifiers said._

" _Screw you!" Clarice says._

" _Let's go, now." Nate whispers._

" _Are you one, too? Speak up, boy!_ _" The same Purifier asks._

" _No. No, I'm-I'm human." Nate says._

" _You're not gonna do anything? How can you be okay with this? How can any of you be okay with this?!_ _" Clarice ask the small crowd that has gathered. No one budges, they just watch._

" _Just go, okay? Please. Run._ " _Nate says. The Purifier opens the backseat of her car and tosses a bottle with a lit cloth around it inside._

" _No." Clarice says shaking her head. She turns around in the direction they had just come. And starts to run._

" _Your kind isn't welcome here. Hey, girl, better run!" Another Purifier says from way far behind her._

_With tears in her eyes she makes a portal and jumps through, she stands in her crappy apartment and starts packing._

" _I can't believe him! That coward!" She says as she continues throwing clothes in her bags. "I knew I should have just headed straight to Atlanta." Once her bags are packed, she grabs all the fruit, snacks and water and places them in another bag. "Time to find me a ride."_

_End of Flashback..._

Mutant Underground the next morning after the incident at Trask. News had spread throughout about what had happened at Trask. And about what happened to Sonia. They decided to have a service for her even though they didn't have her body. Everyone gathered together in the meadow 10 minutes away from the station. Everyone had flowers and somber expressions as Marcos and Lorna took their place in front of the table. John was closer to the tree with a sad face. Clarice was a close but far away from the Struckers. Lorna had silent tears coming down her face.

"It's days like today that remind us we're up against people that don't think of us as human. And they will point to our differences. But the simple fact is this: We love like they do. We die like they do. We grieve like they do." Marcos says then pauses. Making brief eye contact with John before he continues. "We share that today. Sonya will not be forgotten. And I promise we will find justice for her." Lorna puts their set of flowers down while Marcos says a silent prayer then hugs Lorna. Everyone else follows suit. Soon it is just John placing his one flower on top of the pile slowly making his way back to HQ.

He walks up a few steps and then stops he turns his head away from the entrance and just lets is out. He cries softly into his hand for a few minutes before Clarice comes down the steps. He sniffles and wipes his face before she can see.

"Are you okay?" She asks. "I'm-I'm alright." John says. "I know she meant a lot to you. She really loved you." Clarice says her voice cracks and she looks at the ground. John shakes his head. _Sonia did love me, and I loved her like a sister. She didn't have my heart; not like you do._ John thought.

"If there's anything you need, I, uh Just say the word. I want to help." Clarice says looking at him. "Things are so confused in there. This whole business with Esme and her sisters, nobody can agree whether what they did was a disaster or a miracle." John says shaking his head. "So, what do we do?" Clarice asks. "Stay focused. We take down the Hound program." John says. "Do we have a game plan?" Clarice asks already knowing somehow the Hound program had to be stopped. "Not yet. All I know is I can't lose any more friends." John says as starts heading up. Clarice nods to herself and gets in step with him heading inside.

Once inside Clarice heads towards her room, but she's stopped by John's hand on her arm. "Come with me." He says then releases her arm heading to his room. Clarice hesitates for a moment before she follows him. John is waiting in his room and she stands idle in his doorway, not sure what's going on.

"John? Why am I here?" Clarice asks. He doesn't respond. "Well, until you figure it out, I'm gonna go." She turns only to be spun back around and her lips meet John's. Her jade eyes widen. John somehow closes his door and brings her even closer. Clarice shakes her head. "J-john wait-" She tries, but he kisses her again softly this time as his left hand pushes her purple locks behind her pointed ear. Clarice shivers then pulls him closer by his leather jacket. His lips leave her mouth and he places butterfly kisses down the side of her neck. Clarice's eyes pop open and she pushes him back just a bit.

"John, stop your grieving. You need time." Clarice says as she turns towards the door. John spind her around again. "No, I don't. Not when it comes to us. I waited four years to have once again have you by my side. I get that you still need time, but I'm ready. I want this." John says and kisses her again she pulls back, "I do too, John." She says placing a hand on his cheek. He leans in again. She places her other hand on his chest to stop him.

"But you need to grieve." She kisses him on the cheek and turns around, John makes no move to stop her. She opens his door looking over her shoulder to give him one last smile then leaves. She heads down to her space lets out a sigh. Not long after she hears frantic footsteps. She runs out of her space and to the stairwell.

"Everybody! Everybody, listen up! We got incoming. Marcos, they're coming. They got past the perimeter guards." Shatter says as he comes all the way downstairs. Marcos, Lorna, John and the Stuckers all come out.

"Who did?" Marcos asks once Shatter is at his side. Then three pairs of heeled black boots clack against the tile. The trio smile down at them all dressed the same.

"What are they doing here?" Caitlin asks from her spot next to Reed.

"What the hell do you want?" Marcos says to the smirking triplets.

"Come down." The one on the left says.

"There's not need to get excited." Says the one on the right.

"We're just here to talk." Esme says.

"Talk about what?" John asks really not in the mood to deal with this.

"We need your help." The triplets say in unison. They then walk down the steps and lean on the rail.

"Well get right to the point." Esme says.

"We're here." They say in unison.

"About the Hound program. It's still going on." The one on the left says.

"It's looking to expand, in fact." The one on the right says.

"We want your help to stop it." Esme says.

"What? No, you came in here and lied to us. What, now you want our help?" Marcos ask scoffing.

"You used us so you could slaughter those agents at the lab." Reed says as Esme joins them so their level with each other.

"We did what we had to do. I saved your children. Did I mislead you? Yes, so you would do what had to be done. And as for your plan to ask the Sentinel Services to give up nicely, that would have ended with as many corpses. But they would've been yours." Esme says.

"Why do you need us?" Lorna asked armed crossed over her chest.

"Yeah, I saw you three controlling people's minds. You can handle this on your own." Clarice says from the other side of Marcos.

"They know what we look like. And we can't take on Sentinel Services by ourselves. But we have to act now. Make no mistake, the humans will come for us all." Esme says looking at Reed and Caitlin before she continues. "We have information about Campbell's plans, resources to share."

"Meanwhile you have..." The one on the right says.

"Muscle." The one on the left says with a smile.

"Hang on. Are we seriously considering this?" Caitlin asks looking at Marcos and John for support.

"No, we're not. We're not gonna listen to this anymore." Marcos says.

John comes forward. "Enough. We're not debating this, not here, not now. We heard what you had to say. Now you need to leave." John says his voice calm, though he really wants to break something.

"Think it over." The one on the right says.

"Don't take too long." The one on the left says.

"We'll be back." Esme says then walks back up the stairs and the trio head out leaving utter silence in their wake.

A few hours later John and Clarice both come out of their spaces in changed clothes and go straight to the monitors to talk to Sage. Mutants all over the building were arguing.

"I did some digging. Couldn't find much out there, but there are three of them, that we know of: Esme, Sophie and Phoebe." Sage says.

"Spunky." Clarice says.

"Do they have a last name?" John asks.

"Frost. But they use new aliases every week. When Sophie and Phoebe were arrested, they gave their last name as "Cuckoo." Probably just to piss off the cops." Sage says.

John with his arms folded turns to Clarice and asks. "When you were in the lab, they talk about themselves?

"It's not like we had a chat. We were in a military transport. And then they got real busy turning the place into a shooting gallery." Clarice says shaking her head.

"Their police file says they're some kind of hive mind. They're capable of limited psychic control if they're close and the target doesn't see it coming. They're politically connected, wealthy. One of them even infiltrated Senator Montez's campaign last year." Sage says as she types away.

"Montez? That jackass is a straight-up Purifier. They've got the right enemies, that's for damn sure." Clarice says pissed off.

"Doesn't mean we can trust them. If we actually form an alliance with these people, it's gonna tear this place apart." John says trying to be the voice of reason.

"This place is already coming about." Clarice says then gestures to the two mutants closest to them.

"There's no other option. We have to fight." The man says to the woman.

"Those guys have been arguing since this morning." Sage says. John moves in their direction. Sage gets up. "I'll deal with it." She says then heads over to the pair who continue to argue.

"Half these people hate the Frosts. And the other half think they're the only ones that can save us." Clarice says. "How about you?" John asks. "Honestly? I don't know. What I do know is that I'm not gonna run and hide anymore. We know where we stand with our feelings, but that doesn't really matter now does it?" She asks not looking at him. "No." Clarice looks at him. "Not now." He says.

"Hey John. Could you come over here?" Sage asks. With one last look at Clarice he walks over to Sage and after a while the pair calms down a bit. Sage thanks him and goes back to the monitors. John decides that it's time to turn in. Instead of going to his room he heads to Clarice's.

He finds her sitting on her bed petting Zingo. She looks up when he knocks. Zingo moves off her bed and to John. He gives her a gentle pat on the head then he joins Clarice.

"Mind if I join you?" John asks. "Nope." Clarice says shaking her head and taking her shoes off. John flows suit and the lays on her bed with her. "Goodnight Clarice." John says and kisses the top of her head. "Night John." They fall asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning John gets up early taking Zingo out so Clarice wouldn't have to then heading up to his space and grabbing some fresh clothes and takes a shower. He goes to the mess and eats a light breakfast. Then he spends most of the morning with an axe chopping down some trees.

Clarice wakes and goes about her usual routine aside from taking Zingo out she sees Lauren with a backpack heading up the stairs to the doors.

"Lauren. Hey. I hear your family's leaving." Clarice says when she catches up with her. "Yeah. We're going down to Fairburn, then I don't know, Mexico. My parents are freaked out because Esme and her sisters came back." Lauren says then slowly turns around. "We're gonna have a real problem here with or without them. Just leaving isn't gonna solve anything." Clarice says. "It wasn't my idea. They didn't give me much of a choice." Lauren says. "Listen, I get that you need to go with your family. But take it from someone who did lots of running. It's not gonna solve anything. At some point, you're gonna have to take a stand." Clarice says. "I tried that. You saw what happened. It got Sonia killed." Lauren says tears starting to form. "That was not your fault. Okay? Look, I've learned the hard way that hate feeds on fear. And if you run, hate wins." Clarice says. "I gotta go." Lauren says turning and heading up the last of the steps and out the door. Clarice sighed and went up to John's office.

She placed her palms on his wooden desk and shook her head. Lorna finds her in that same position about twenty minutes later.

"Hey, whatever your feeling right now, table it. Marcos and John are waiting down in the vault." Lorna says then walks out the way she came. Clarice sighs and follows her downstairs to the vault. Like she said John and Marcos were waiting for them. Lorna sits down a chair kicking her boots up on the desk.

"What's up?" Clarice asks.

"The Frost sisters will be here soon. We need to decide what to do." John says.

"Far as I'm concerned, the psychics are a nonstarter." Marcos says as he leans against the file cabinets.

"Because their tactics make you uncomfortable?" Lorna asks as she raises to her feet.

"Uncomfortable? They murdered a dozen people without even blinking. We don't know the first thing about them." Maros says.

"We do know one thing about them. They saved our asses." Clarice says.

"They saved themselves, and pulled us right into an all-out war with Sentinel Services." Marcos says.

Congress could declare martial law." John says.

"So? They didn't need martial law when they killed my foster parents." Clarice says her jade glaring.

"Exactly. Why should we fight with one hand tied behind our backs? We need all the allies we can get. Do you want to cling to your ideals or do you want to survive?" Lorna asks looking at Marcos.

Marcos shakes his head. "We can't just chuck our principles because it's convenient. No, the X-Men chose us for a reason, and it's not 'cause we can kill. If we wanted to kill people, we would've done it a thousand times already, but we didn't." Marcos says addressing all three of them. "We have to be better than that. Now, we need to take out the Hound program, and we will, Lorna. But we have to do it our way." Marcos says and they stand in silence for a moment before Sage rushes in.

"Listen up. I just got word over the police radio. Something big is about to go down." Sage says.

"Where?" John asks.

"Fairburn." Sage says.

"Let's go." John says. Clarice, Marcos, and Lorna follow him out and to the cars. They all pile in one and head out. Fairburn is 2 hours away, but with Lorna at the wheel they'll make there in 45. When they are six minutes away John calls Reed.

"Reed. We're on our way, less than five minutes out. What's going on?" John puts the burner on speaker. "We're hiding out at the south end of the building, but we can't get to an exit." Reed says. "How many people are with you?" John asks. "Uh, just us and Wes. Uh, most of the refugees have already surrendered. Uh, Andy's hurt." Reed says. "How bad?" John asks. "He's unconscious, but Cait is afraid to move him. Wes has put up a mirage to hide us. I don't think he can hold on forever." "All right, we're almost there. Just hold on. We'll portal in, get you out of there." John says then closes the burner. He tells Lorna to park on the other side of the building which is surrounded by trees.

They all pile out and John tracks the Sentinel Service agents. "Sentinel Services is setting up around the building."

"Can you get us in?" Marcos asks.

"Yeah." Clarice says.

-boom boom-

"What the hell was that?" Lorna asks.

"I'm pretty sure were gonna find out." Marcos says.

Then they all file behind Clarice, she sees an open window she spreads her arms out and a big purple portal forms Marcos goes in then Lorna then John and finally Clarice the portal closes behind her.

-howling boom-

"John, where are they?" Lorna asks. As they cover their eyes as debry fly at them.

"Go, down the hall!" He yells as they run parts of the building continue to break. They take a flight of stairs. "This way come on!" John says they follow while the other mutants go in a different direction. They see Reed and Caitlin with Andy and Lauren holding Wes as she shields them from incoming fire.

"Hey, come on, we got to go." John says as he helps Andy to his feet while Lorna and Marcos help Lauren with Wes.

"Come on." Reed says.

-howling boom-

"We'll cover you!" Marcos says. They head back the way they had come the howling getting worse by the second. Clarice helped the Stuckers downstairs.

The next boom sends Lorna flying high over John's head and Marcos falls to the ground. John act quickly and catches Lorna breaking her fall.

"Lorna!" Marcos says quickly rising to his feet, shiny blood on his cheek.

"I'm okay." She says and hugs him.

Clarice comes back up and looks at them.

"They're too powerful! Get us out of here now!" John yells as he and the others follow her downstairs. Clarice opens another portal getting them out of the building and into the forest.

Sentinel Service agents head in the opposite direction a few feet away.

"We have to get out of here." Lorna says.

"Yeah. We can't take on those Hounds. We'll never make it if they see us." Marcos says.

Andy grunts behind them.

John takes the lead he tracks the agent's movements.

"Found a vehicle, sir."

"Engine's still warm."

"We'll search the area."

"Ugh, they're all through the woods. The car's blown. They'll be on us soon." John says turning back to them.

"Andy, what is it?" Caitlin asks.

"We go that way." Andy says.

"The woods are full of agents." Reed says.

"They said it was safe." Andy says.

"Who said it was safe?" Lauren asks.

"I know how to get out of here, okay? Just follow me." Andy somehow rises to his feet and heads in the direction he was told.

"Andy, wait!" Caitlin says.

"Andy!" Lauren says. They follow him as he stubbles on his way and soon they see a road with two black Jeeps and the Frosts causing some pain to two agents.

"Let's go." Esme says.

"What are you doing to them?" Reed asks.

"We're just giving them something to think about." Esme says simply.

"I know you're squeamish about killing." The Frosts say in unison.

"More agents coming this way. Too many for us to handle." John says.

"Well, then, I guess you better get in." The Frosts say as they turn to the cars.

"Come on!" Reed says and they all pile in the black jeeps. The Frosts hit the gas and they speed away before they are noticed. They ride back to HQ in complete silence. Once inside Caitlin, Reed and Lauren get Wes and Andy over to the sick bay Clarice follows.

"Is he going to be okay?" Lauren asks.

"He was using his powers for a long time. His body's exhausted. Once he rehydrates, he'll recover." Caitlin says.

"Wes is a tough kid." Clarice says as she places a blanket over him. "So are you, by the way. Holding out like that? I don't know how you lasted as long as you did." Clarice says looking at Lauren with a smile.

"I had to. Like you said, hatred feeds on fear." Lauren says.

"Well, I'm glad you're here." Clarice says giving her a pat on the shoulder. "We need all the help we can get." Clarice says then leaves them. She heads downstairs to her space. She was not about to deal with the Frost right now.

"We might've not made it out of there without you guys." Lorna says.

"Your welcome." Sophie says.

"Don't mention it." Phobe says.

"How did you even find us?" Marcos asks.

"We told you. We have sources." Esme says.

"So, the mutants that were attacking us, that's what you were warning us about? That's what Campbell's been working on at Trask?" John asks.

"That was just the start." Phobe says.

"It's going to get worse." Sophie says.

"Much worse. That's why we need your help." Esme says.

"Okay. And you can get us to Campbell? We can end this?" Lorna asks.

"We wouldn't be here if we couldn't." The triplets say in unison shrugging. "So, what's it going to be?" They ask.

John looks at Lorna who smiles. Then at Marcos who is reluctant, but gives a small nod.

"Alright, were in." John says.

"You made the right choice." The triplets say with a smirk then the three leave, but not before telling them they would be back in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> I recently fell in love with this show and Thunderblink. So let me know what you think I love feedback and it you enjoy it don't to Kudos and comment! I'm also on fanfiction.net if you want to check out my other stories under the same username. Until next time...


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